


Parachute

by carriecmoney



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Chatlogs, Gen, Implied/Referenced Abuse, M/M, MMORPGs, Road Trips, Texting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-09
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2019-06-24 04:26:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 66,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15622515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carriecmoney/pseuds/carriecmoney
Summary: When the paladins of the Voltron Coalition guild overhear something in their healer's home life that he had been trying to hide, they all drop everything to rush to his aid - even if it means driving cross-country through snow and storm, hell or highwater, to be his parachute. WoW guild/found family modern AU.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> {A/N: What up, Voltron fandom, guess who's crashing in 6 seasons late with Starbucks? Brace yourselves for some crazy formatting, recurring topics of chronic parental abuse, and WoW slang! (The WoW lingo was gratefully provided by my two besties, Sami and [Shannon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shaples/pseuds/Shaples).) The Spanish was translated by my lovely friend [John](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quinnathan/pseuds/Quinnathan), ~~so blame him for any translation inaccuracies~~. Translations are available if you hover over each line, so this (chapter at least) is better read on desktop! Sorry mobile readers, it was the best option : < This will probably be the only full Spanish conversation in the fic, unless my plans change.
> 
> Tags will be added as they show up, including ship tags! My currrent outline doesn't have any explicit ships, but my plans have been known to change before :) 
> 
> **An extra warning that this plot centers around parental abuse!** It's mostly just discussed and only shown in brief segments, but it is in the opening scene and is the main plot driver, so if that's a trigger for you, you might want to stay away. 
> 
> Title is from [this thematic Chris Stapleton song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl4c0kZUm2M). Onwards!}

**_Monsters and Mana – Carthian’s Lair – Tue, Nov 20, 2018, 9:22 PM EST_ **

_“Shit! Take_ that _, motherfucker!”_  
_ “Princess! Watch your aggro!”_  
[VoltronCoalition][PiGForce]: hunk heal me  
_“Wha- right, sorry, Pidge!”_  
_“I got it!”_  
[VoltronCoalition][PiGForce]: darky what the hell are you doing  
_“I’m getting your stupid gear shut up-”_  
_“Darky dark, you’re not a tank, you butthole, stop acting like one!”_  
_“Can I get a taunt over here?”_  
[VoltronCoalition][PiGForce]: on it princess  
_“Hunk! Wake up, bud!”_  
[darkwolfboy has died.]  
_“Shit, I'm floating through a wall. Why am I floating through a wall.”_  
_ “I need a rez!”_  
[VoltronCoalition][PiGForce]: you wouldn’t need a rez if you didn't keep pulling  
_“Stop taking so long.”_  
_“Seriously, stuck in a wall.”_  
[VoltronCoalition][PiGForce]: come on guys, I want to finish this before Christmas  
_"Should I relog, or…?"_  
_“Hunk! Stop standing in the burning thing!”_  
_ “What is that mysterious ticking noise?”_  
_ “SHIT!”_  
_ “Bomb!”_  
[princessplz has died.]  
[VoltronCoalition][PiGForce]: why is the screen flashing red  
[VoltronCoalition][PiGForce]: this wasn't in the tutorial  
_“It's spitting fire. Why is it spitting fire?!”_  
[shiro has died.]  
[sirenamor has died.]  
[PiGForce has died.]  
[_HUNK_ has died.]  
_"Uuughhh."_  
_"Not again."_  
_ “Are we dumb or is the game dumb?”_  
_“You_ dare _challenge the fabrications of the all-powerful mustache wax?”_  
_“Um. Guys… what happened.”_  
_ “Ummmmmmm.”_  
_ "I'm still stuck in a wall."_  
[VoltronCoalition][PiGForce]: Shiro, relog. Hunk, are you gonna rez us?  
_"Right, sorry, running back."_  
_“Okay, getting some water while I relog.”_  
[_HUNK_ has resurrected princessplz.]  
[_HUNK_ has resurrected sirenamor.]  
[shiro has disconnected.]  
[sirenamor cuddles the Coranic Dragon.]  
[sirenamor dances with the Coranic Dragon.]  
[sirenamor licks the Coranic Dragon.]  
[_HUNK_ has resurrected darkwolfboy.]  
_"Alright let's do this."_  
_"DARKY, SHIRO ISN'T BACK Y- oh my god, there he goes."_  
[darkwolfboy has died.]  
[sirenamor has died.]  
[_HUNK_ has died.]  
[princessplz has died.]  
[shiro has reconnected.]  
_“Why is everyone dead?”_  
[VoltronCoalition][PiGForce]: Okay guys, can we at least try to pretend like we know what we’re doing here?  
_“Yeah, can we please not take six tries on this boss like the last one.”_  
_“Can you_ please _not do dumb fucker things then?”_  
_“What I_ need _is some decent healing. Hunk, did that wall get you, too?”_  
[_HUNK_ casts mass resurrection.]  
[VoltronCoalition][PiGForce]: three two one I'm pulling before darky does  
_“PIDGE NO!”_

* * *

_**Monsters and Mana – Carthian’s Lair – Wed, Nov 21, 2018, 12:17 AM EST** _

_“A’ight! Record time, right, waxy?”_  
_“Actually-”_  
_ “That was definitely a yes! Where we going next?”_  
_ “Fuck! Shoulders! Where are my pants!”_  
_ “Shouldn’t you be wearing them?”_  
_“Hmm – there’s a door that way we can check out –_ Darky- _”_  
[VoltronCoalition][PiGForce]: lololol  
_“Well. Guess we’re going that way.”_  
_“Oh ho! Excellent choice!”_  
_“Waxy! Don’t you_ dare _say shit like that like that you monster!”_  
_“Lance, let’s just go.”_  
_ “Sure thing, princess! Hunk, come on! …Hunk?”_  
[VoltronCoalition][_HUNK_]: one sec dont wait up  
_“Dude, I’m waiting on you-”_  
_“Junior, get down here and spend time with your family!”_  
“Dad _, I’m busy-!”_  
_"Too busy for your family? Turn that thing off and get your fat ass downstairs."_  
_ “Uh-oh.”_  
_ “What the hell?”_  
_ “I’m in the middle of something, I’ll be down soon-”_  
_ “We haven't seen you in months, and you're already disappearing into that damn video game? What are you doing that's more important than seeing your mother?"_  
_“It’s not- it’s not_ more _important, but…”_  
_“But? But what? Speak up!”_  
_ “This is some bullshit.”_  
_ “We've been planning this for-”_  
_ "'We'? You mean those fake internet friends of yours?”_  
_“They’re_ not _fake!”_  
_“I’m not paying your tuition so you can become a hermit!”_  
_ “I’m not a hermit! I have friends!”_  
_ “These people don’t count for that, you haven’t spent time with a real person in-”_  
_"They_ are _real people!"_  
_“Don’t you dare interrupt me. They're not your damn family. I didn't drive five hours so you could-"_  
_ "Well maybe you shouldn't have!"_  
_ "Excuse me?"_  
_"I didn't_ ask _you to come get me! I had_ plans _today, and you didn't even_ tell _me you-"_  
“Hunk!”  
[VoltronCoalition][PiGForce]: oh my god  
_"Oh FUCK no!”_  
_ “Oh dear…”_  
[VoltronCoalition][PiGForce]: THIS IS NOT GOOD AT ALL!!!!!  
_"Get up. Go clean yourself up and apologize to your mother."_  
_"Go fuck yourself."_  
_"What did you just say to me?"_  
_"I said_ go fuck yourself! _I'm tired of apologizing to you, and I'm_ sick _of being your punching bag!"_  
_"As long as you live under_ my _roof-"_  
_"Maybe I don't want to live under_ your roof _anymore! I didn't even_ want _to come home for Thanksgiving, but then_ you _showed up without even telling me! Being away at college isn't making me a hermit, it's just making me not want to be around you anymore, because people there - my_ friends _\- actually treat me like a_ person _!"_  
"These _people?"_  
_"No, don't-!"_  
_ “Hunk!”_  
[_HUNK_ has disconnected.]

* * *

**_Miami, FL – Wed, Nov 21, 2018, 12:38 AM EST_ **

Lance tore off his headset and threw it across the desk, tearing at his hair and taking deep gulping breaths. He had been the unwitting third party to more fights between Hunk and his dad than he cared to count, but that was… Hunk had never blown up like that. Lance had _wanted_ him to – thought he wanted him to. But he never really thought about… what came after. Shit.

He slapped for his phone, unlocking it with shaking fingers and opening his text messages as the dim lights of the _Monsters and Mana_ home page flickered over him. He could hear his guild’s muffled voices through the headset earphones, but he just… needed a moment.

* * *

**_iMessages – Wed, Nov 21, 2018, 12:42 AM EST_ **

From: Lance (Water Wave )  
Yo bud, you okay?  
Tue, Nov 20, 9:41 PM

From: Lance (Water Wave )  
Please just tell me youre okay  
Tue, Nov 20, 9:42 PM

From: Hunky (Sun With Face ) Dory  
Yeah  
Wed, Nov 21, 12:57 AM

From: Lance (Water Wave )  
BABE YOURE ALIVE  
Tue, Nov 20, 9:57 PM

From: Lance (Water Wave )  
Dude where are you?  
Tue, Nov 20, 9:57 PM

From: Lance (Water Wave )  
Dude  
Tue, Nov 20, 10:00 PM

From: Lance (Water Wave )  
You were micced up still and we heard the whole thing and I’m so sorry babe I love you are you okay??  
Tue, Nov 20, 10:00 PM

From: Lance (Water Wave )  
Can you call anybody or go to a neighbors????  
Tue, Nov 20, 10:01 PM

From: Hunky (Sun With Face ) Dory  
Omw to mcds  
Wed, Nov 21, 1:03 AM

From: Hunky (Sun With Face ) Dory  
I can’t go back lance  
Wed, Nov 21, 1:04 AM

From: Hunky (Sun With Face ) Dory  
I cant  
Wed, Nov 21, 1:04 AM

From: Lance (Water Wave )  
I know bro  
Tue, Nov 20, 10:04 PM

From: Lance (Water Wave )  
I’m here for you  
Tue, Nov 20, 10:04 PM

From: Hunky (Sun With Face ) Dory  
I know  
Wed, Nov 21, 1:04 AM

From: Hunky (Sun With Face ) Dory  
Wish you were here  
Wed, Nov 21, 1:05 AM

From: Lance (Water Wave )  
Give me 44 hours  
Tue, Nov 20, 10:05 PM

From: Hunky (Sun With Face ) Dory  
Lol  
Wed, Nov 21, 1:07 AM

From: Lance (Water Wave )  
No I’m serious  
Tue, Nov 20, 10:07 PM

From: Lance (Water Wave )  
I’m packing rn  
Tue, Nov 20, 10:07 PM

From: Hunky (Sun With Face ) Dory  
Thanks bud  
Wed, Nov 21, 1:08 AM

From: Hunky (Sun With Face ) Dory  
Hey I may go dark for a bit he keeps calling  
Wed, Nov 21, 1:10 AM

From: Lance (Water Wave )  
I’m not joking babe  
Tue, Nov 20, 10:12 PM

From: Lance (Water Wave )  
Ok. Stay safe I’ll be right there  
Tue, Nov 20, 10:12 PM

* * *

**_Miami, FL – Wed, Nov 21, 2018, 2:02 AM EST_ **

“¿Burbujo? ¿A dónde vas?”

Lance froze at the front door, duffel bag slapping against his leg and the door frame as he spun to face his mom, who was still blinking away sleep under her wild hair. He sighed. “Mami...” He cleared his throat, rubbed at his face with his warm travel mug. “Tengo que ir.”

She narrowed her eyes and unfolded her arms from their hold around her middle. “Cierre la puerta, Lance.” He ducked his head and obeyed, crossing the foyer to knock his forehead into her shoulder. She pet his hair, making sleepy shushing noises as he hiccupped into her nightgown. “Mijito, ven a la cocina.”

He let her pull him through the quiet holiday chaos of the house and sit him down at the breakfast table, turning on the overhead light and setting his duffel bag at their feet. She pulled up a chair close enough to hold his hands – they were shaking. “Mijo, dime que esta pasando.”

He looked up at her face, tired and brown and patient. He gripped her wrists. “¿Tu – tu conoces mi amigo Hunk?”

She tilted her head. “¿El chico del videojuego en California?” He nodded, and her eyebrows furrowed. “Ay, mijito, con los…”

“Los padres malos? Si.” His chin dropped to his chest, eyes clenched shut. “Algo – algo pasó, no se que pasó, pero él dejó su casa y no tiene un lugar para dormir y yo debí haber hecho podría haber-”

“Lance, mijo.” She lifted their joined hands to brush his cheek and draw him back out of his head. “No es culpa tuya. No hay nada que puedes hacer desde aqui.”

“Yo se! Yo se.” He swallowed. “Asi que me tengo que ir. Ahora. Y arreglarlo.”

“Mijo, son las dos de la mañana.” She glanced at his travel mug. “No importa cuán fuerte sea eso, no saldrás de la ciudad tan fuerte.” She patted his cheek, his hand still holding her wrist. “Y tu abuela vienes mañana. ¿No quieres verla?”

He squeezed her wrist. “Si pero…!” He took several deep breaths while she waited, heavy blinking – how had she even woken up? He had tried to be quiet – whatever. He exhaled through his nose. “Él me necesita,” he whispered.

She looked his face over, then sat back in her chair, crossing her arms and pursing her lips. “Mm. Un vuelo el día antes de Thanksgiving será muy caro.”

He snorted. “Yo se.” She raised an eyebrow, and he threw up his hands. “ _¿Que?_ ¿Pienses que yo quiero manejar tres días solo?”

“Eso me preocupa tambien,” she said, crossing her legs to wag her top foot with her thoughts. “Nunca has manejandomás de tres horas. Este viaje dura tres días. Esto será peligroso.”

Lance frowned. “¿Y si tuviera un compañero para el viaje? Por un parte?”

Her other eyebrow went up. “Tus hermanos no quiere morir en tu... auto.”

“Blue es bellesa and y todos ustedes son celosos.” She chuckled and reached for his travel mug, unscrewing the top as he worried his lip. “Hay otro amigo de mismo... grupo. Vive en Houston – está en caminoy. Podria cogerlo. Él querría ayudar. Lo sé.”

She wrinkled her nose at his Monster-coffee concoction and twisted the lid back on. “¿Burbito, que tan bien conoces a este chico?”

He twisted his fingers together. “Bien, lo prometo.” He tried a smile. “Se llama Keith.”

* * *

**_Houston, TX – Wed, Nov 21, 2018, 1:22 AM CST_ **

Keith threw another pair of socks into his second duffel, feeling around in the drawer for anything he could have missed. It had taken an hour too long to unload his closet and three-drawer dresser into his old duffels, but with that and an extra backpack for food and his laptop, he was ready. He slung one across his chest and unplugged his phone from the charger to wrap it up and stick it in a side pocket – who was trying to _call_ him on Discord at one in the morning? He scowled and unlocked his phone – oh. Of course.

* * *

**_Discord – Direct Message @sirenamor @darkwolfboy – Wed, Nov 21, 2018, 1:23 AM CST_ **

**sirenamor** _Today at 1:18 AM_  
Hey sorry, you awake?  
Kinda really need to talk to you  
Darky?  
Darky dark?  
Keith?

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 1:23 AM  
_ Yeah I’m awake

 **sirenamor** _Today at 1:23 AM  
_ HEY  
So you’re freaking out right

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 1:23 AM  
_ Obviously  
I just finished packing

 **sirenamor** _Today at 1:24 AM  
_ Wait  
You were leaving now too?

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 1:24 AM  
_ What?

 **sirenamor** _Today at 1:24 AM  
_ Yeah my mom caught me at the door

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 1:24 AM  
_ Aren’t you in Miami?

 **sirenamor** _Today at 1:24 AM  
_ I know you’re the king Jenkins and all but do you maybe want to wait about 16 hours and drive over with ne

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 1:24 AM  
_ That’s a hell of a drive

 **sirenamor** _Today at 1:25 AM  
_ Yeah I know that’s why I’m talking to you  
Google takes me right through Houston, that’s where you’re at right?  
Please  
Save gas money!! Lol

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 1:27 AM  
_ Guess you’re no use to us if you kill yourself on the highway  
And I need to quit my job in person

 **sirenamor** _Today at 1:27 AM  
_ Why the fuck would you quit your job

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 1:28 AM  
_ I’ll wait I guess  
Because this won’t be over the second we get there and none of y’all know jack shit about living on your own, he needs a guide

 **sirenamor** _Today at 1:28 AM  
_ Awww that is both super sweet and super condescending! <3  
Give me your address and I’ll be there  
Mom’s trying to make me sleep but I prob wont

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 1:29 AM  
_ Fuck your mom

 **sirenamor** _Today at 1:29 AM  
_ Wow ok that just earned you a solid asskicking when I get there

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 1:30 AM  
_ Try it Florida man  
You tell shiro and everyone yet?

 **sirenamor** _Today at 1:31 AM  
_ No… got distracted  
Server’s a hot mess atm

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 1:31 AM  
_ I’ll do it. You listen to your mom and go lie down

 **sirenamor** _Today at 1:33 AM_  
<3 <3 <3 love you too babe

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 1:33 AM  
_ Die

* * *

**_Discord – VoltronCoalition – #lions-den_ ** **(Lock )** **_– Wed, Nov 21, 2018, 1:33 AM CST_**

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 1:34 AM_  
Hey so lance and me are driving to cali tomorrow if anyone wanted to know

 **princessplz** _Today at 1:34 AM  
_ You’re doing _what?_

 **PiGForce** _Today at 1:34 AM_  
Together????

 **shiro** _Today at 1:35 AM  
_ Are you sure that’s a good idea

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 1:35 AM  
_ Well we were each going on our own but now he’s grabbing me on his way through texas  
It’s better than sitting around

 **princessplz** _Today at 1:36 AM  
_ I hate to be the one to say this but… are we sure this isn’t an overreaction?  
What if he calms down, this blows over, and you two missed your American holiday for nothing……..

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 1:36 AM  
_ I’m going anyway so fuck off

 **sirenamor** _Today at 1:36 AM  
_ It’s not an overreaction!  
I’ve heard a _lot_ of their fights ok and this was different  
He’s never ever yelled back like that, like ever  
And his dad totally destroyed his laptop  
And I texted him and he told me he’s not going back  
He’s camping out in a freaking McDonald’s rn and that’s not ok!!!  
He needs help  
_Our_ help

 **PiGForce** _Today at 1:38 AM  
_ Damn son

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 1:38 AM  
_ I didn’t have tgiving plans anyway

 **PiGForce** _Today at 1:38 AM  
_ Inspirational _slow clap_

 **sirenamor** _Today at 1:39 AM_  
We’ll make it a friendsgiving idgaf

 **shiro** _Today at 1:40 AM  
_ Keith I told you you could come up here

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 1:40 AM  
_ And I told you not while there’s snow on your ground

 **sirenamor** _Today at 1:40 AM  
_ Lol same

 **PiGForce** _Today at 1:40 AM_  
Babies

 **sirenamor** _Today at 1:40 AM  
_ I’m gonna try to sleep so I can make it to Houston in one piece, ttyl

 **PiGForce** _Today at 1:40 AM  
_ Shiro where ru stationed atm?

 **shiro** _Today at 1:40 AM  
_ Ft leavenworth

 **PiGForce** _Today at 1:40 AM  
_ Hmmmm….

 **shiro** _Today at 1:40 AM  
_ Hmmmmm what

 **PiGForce** _Today at 1:41 AM_  
:3c

 **princessplz** _Today at 1:41 AM_  
Pidge…….

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 1:42 AM  
_ Whatever I’m sleeping too I have to quit my job tomorrow

 **shiro** _Today at 1:42 AM  
_ KEITH

 **PiGForce** _Today at 1:44 AM  
_ LMAO

 **princessplz** _Today at 1:45 AM  
_ Americans……

 **mustachewax573** _Today at 1:46 AM_  
Ah, you youths are so invigorating in the morning!  
Youths?

 **princessplz** _Today at 1:48 AM  
_ I believe they all fell asleep as a unit…….

 **mustachewax573** _Today at 1:50 AM  
_ Ah yes. Youths!

 **princessplz** _Today at 1:54 AM  
_ Youths indeed…….

* * *

**_Fort Leavenworth, KS – Wed, Nov 21, 2018, 1:46 AM CST_ **

Shiro put his hand on his hip and glared at his bed. Well, not really _his_ bed – he hadn’t owned his own mattress in years – but the one he was currently sleeping on. In theory. He had done all of the normal before-bed routines; he had brushed his teeth, locked the motel room door, taken off his arm, but here he was, still wide awake. At least tonight he could blame it on the worry twisting behind his ribs.

He sighed and sat on the edge of the bed instead, unplugging his phone from the charger on his nightstand to see what discord had brewed in the five minutes he hadn’t been paying attention to the Discord. He swiped away most of the push notifications – he wasn’t interested in the latest gift from Candy Crush, thanks – but paused over the last one. What trouble could Pidge be stirring up that they needed _his_ input on?

* * *

**_Discord – Direct Message @shiro @pigforce – Wed, Nov 21, 2018, 1:42 AM CST_ **

**PiGForce** _Today at 1:43 AM  
_ There’s no way we can let those two idiots beat us to the punch

 **shiro** _Today at 1:46 AM  
_???

 **PiGForce** _Today at 1:46 AM  
_ Ft Leavenworth is 5 hours away from me

 **shiro** _Today at 1:46 AM  
_ Oh

 **PiGForce** _Today at 1:47 AM  
_ And my new girl hasn’t gone on a read road trip yet ;)  
Real*

 **shiro** _Today at 1:47 AM  
_ Are you sure? I mean you’ll be missing tgiving too

 **PiGForce** _Today at 1:47 AM  
_ Parents’ll get over it  
And I bet I can sucker matt into coming along

 **shiro** _Today at 1:48 AM  
_ Haha well it has been a while since I’ve seen him

 **PiGForce** _Today at 1:48 AM  
_ He’s weak and won’t survive the winter

 **shiro** _Today at 1:48 AM  
_ Lol

 **PiGForce** _Today at 1:49 AM  
_ Wait – you _do_ want to do this right  
Realized I didn’t ask

 **shiro** _Today at 1:49 AM  
_ Yeah. Yeah I do.

 **PiGForce** _Today at 1:49 AM  
_ Good you can be an extra driver

 **shiro** _Today at 1:49 AM  
_ Can’t drive.

 **PiGForce** _Today at 1:50 AM  
_ Wait really?  
Whatever matt can drive  
I’ll finish up hunks hw for him so he doesn’t fail out after losing all his shit on his laptop

 **shiro** _Today at 1:51 AM  
_ There are so many things wrong with that

 **PiGForce** _Today at 1:51 AM  
_ Shut up you’re a gay bitch who can’t drive

 **shiro** _Today at 1:52 AM  
_ You got me there

 **PiGForce** _Today at 1:53 AM  
_ Gimme your phone no I’ll let you know when we leave in the morning :3c

 **shiro** _Today at 1:54 AM  
_ Sure, 8725552794

 **PiGForce** _Today at 1:54 AM  
_ Excellent

 **shiro** _Today at 1:55 AM  
_ Now go to sleep

 **PiGForce** _Today at 1:56 AM  
_ Whatever dad

 **shiro** _Today at 1:56 AM  
_ :|

* * *

**_Riverside, IA – Wed, Nov 21, 2018, 2:01 AM CST_ **

“Hey. Hey Matt. Wake up. Wake up, Matt.”

Matt groaned and rolled over in his messy bed, grumbling his way back to sleep. Nope. Pidge frowned and threw the cat in her arms on the blanket-lump of his butt. Rover hissed, clawing through Matt’s covers to cling on as he flailed and slapped wild arms around, the cat running all over him before jumping off the bed and barreling out of the room and down the stairs. Pidge crossed her arms and glared at Matt as he sat up, scrubbing at his face with a long moan, hair all over the place and giant shirt twisted all around him. “Pidge?” He squinted in the dim orange light filtering in from the streetlight in front of their houses. “Wha’ time s’it?”

She shrugged. “I dunno. About two, I guess.” He groaned again and flopped back, arms flung wide. She ignored his bitching and crawled up by his feet, sitting criss-cross and holding her ankles. “I need your help.”

“Couldn’t it wait until _morning?_ ” he whined. She punched his leg with a huff. He took a deep breath, then shoved up to a sit, blinking at her with bleary eyes. “Okay. Shoot. What’s the emergency.”

She picked at the hem of her pajama pants, biting her lip. “One of my guildmates is… in trouble.” She sighed, stomach twisting. “He’s got a shit dad, and tonight, there was a fight, I think his dad broke his computer… long story short, he walked out in the middle of a raid.” She gripped her ankle. “We all heard it.” She tangled her fingers in her hair, teeth grinding. “Hunk’s always been too good for us, and now Lance says he’s all on his own and they’re all going and I _have_ to-” She sucked in a rattling breath. “I gotta be there to make sure he’s okay.”

“Oh my God.” She looked up at Matt, his eyes big in the dim light. “My sister has _feelings_.” She scowled and punched at him, but he just laughed and caught her arm, pulling her in for a hair ruffle. “Where’s this kid at, then?”

“California.” She glared at his shirt. “I know it’s not easy, but…”

“Nah, I get it.” She sniffed and shoved out of his arms, sitting back and wiping her face on her shoulder. He looked her over for a second. “Mom’s not gonna like it.” She choked on a laugh.

“Yeah, I know.” She smiled at him. “I need help with that, too.”

He rolled his eyes. “So _demanding_.” She stuck out her tongue at him. “Your car or mine?”

“Guinevere needs a good break-in, don’t you think?” He wrinkled his nose, and she pushed at his knee. “Stop that.”

“Driving cross country in a November in a glorified cardboard box?” He twisted his shirt around straight with a huff. “Never boring around here, I guess.”

“Shut up.” She rolled off the bed to her feet, stretching as he laughed at her. “Oh, and we’re gonna pick up Shiro on the way,” she dropped in. He perked up.

“Wait, really?” He grinned. “Shoot, why didn’t you lead with that, silly?” He laid back on his pillow, smiling up at the old stars on his ceiling, long since lost their glow in the dark charge in the midnight. “Been ages since I’ve seen that bastard. I’m totally in.”

“Awesome. Can’t wait. Going to bed.”

He chuckled. “You do that, sis.” He rolled over, snoring again before she closed the door. She pressed her forehead against the cool wood, closing her eyes and breathing slow, trying to untangle the knot in her chest.

_Hold on. We’re coming for you, buddy._

* * *

**_Auburn, CA – Wed, Nov 21, 2018, 12:19 AM PST_ **

Hunk shifted in the sticky pleather seat of the McDonald’s booth, staring down at the black screen of his phone. He had turned it off before he had even left his neighborhood, every beep and vibrate sending him into a panic even when he knew it was only Discord or twitter or Lance texting or the weather app or –

So he turned it off. Lance would understand.

His fries were almost gone (and cold anyway), but he dumped out the bits onto his tray to pick through them, looking for one big enough to dip in his ketchup. This McDonald’s was twenty-four hours, but just barely, operating on a three-man crew for the graveyard shift. They knew him by sight – he had become a regular of the midnight crew in the few months they had lived in this town – but they usually ignored him once he was fed and out of the way, and he never stuck around for too long. That’s how it always went.

His eyes flicked to his phone. Maybe he should…

Sneakers squeaked on tile towards him. He looked up as the cashier, hat off and smiling, sat down across from him, putting a large fry on an empty spot on his trashed tray.

“Hello,” she said. He blinked at her, and she fidgeted, crossing her legs and tugging at her polo collar. “Um…” She tried to smile again – it was a nice smile. He remembered to smile back, and her shoulders fell with a sigh, relaxing into the booth. She shoved the tray a little closer to him. “The fries, they might help,” she said in that strange accent she took his order in. Right. Common courtesy.

“Thanks.” He took two – they were still hot, so he loaded them up with ketchup to cool them down enough to eat. Her eyes crinkled. He swallowed with a gulp. “Uh. Hi.” She chuckled, so he reached for the food to shut himself up. He took three more fries, gesturing with them for her to join in. She leant forward to copy him, opening one of the ketchups she had brought for herself. They ate in silence for a moment before he cleared his throat, drawing her big dark eyes to him again. He scratched the back of his neck. “Sorry if I’m being rude, I just…” He tugged the collar of his vest higher. “It’s been a day.”

“I am sure.” She took another fry. “Will you be leaving, or coming?” He frowned, and she pointed down – down at the half-packed duffel at his feet. His skin washed cold, then hot.

“Uh…” He slumped forward, gripping his elbows hard enough that his wrists shook. “I’m not really sure,” he whispered.

His dad was going to be _pissed_ either way – maybe if he got back before sunrise, he wouldn’t… He had told Lance he wasn’t going back, but here in the Technicolor primaries and fluorescents of his hiding spot, he wasn’t so sure. They had only moved here a few months ago, and he had spent most of that time down at college in San Jose, so he didn’t really know the town that well. He didn’t have a car or much by the way of money – the burger combo had been a good fourth of the cash in his wallet – and there were no friends or family in the area. He had been alone before, walking through the streets of whatever neighborhood his dad had put them in this time, but he just wasn’t built for it long term. He couldn’t _do it-_

“Would you like to be talking it?” He whipped up to the cashier, who kept smiling and feeding him like a _friend_. “I am…” She waved a hand in the air, wide nose wrinkling. “Not so good at the English.” She huffed and took another fry. “But I am very able to listen.”

He took a deep breath… let it out. Tried another smile. “Yeah,” he said to this new friend, reds and blues of the dining room blaring just a little quieter. “If you don’t mind.” He wiped the salt off of his hands on his sweatpants and held his hand out. “I’m – Hunk, by the way.”

She grinned and shook it, callouses escaping his palms. “And I am called Shay.”

He grinned back. “Cool.” She laughed, bigger than it was worth. He laughed along, watching the light glint off her swinging hoop earrings. She wiped her eyes, waving him on with a grin.

“Well, go forward. Be telling all.” She glanced at the clock behind the counter. “Please be in under ten of minutes, for when I go back off break.” He huffed and shook their fry container to bring another layer forward.

“Fine, fine.” He swirled a really long fry in his ketchup. “Well, see, my dad’s kind of an asshole…”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> {A/N: Back at it again at Krispy Kreme... the combination of needing to process my... complicated season 8 emotions and taking a week-long road trip through the Nevada desert has dug up the need to write this fic again. I have a feeling I'm going to power through it for a while now, so brace yourselves. Quick note: from here out, the dates on the various types of chat logs may be out of chronological order, so pay attention to the headers! All of the standard narration will be in timeline order, however. [tumblr](http://carriecmoney.tumblr.com) [twitter](http://www.twitter.com/carriecmoney)}

**_Discord – Direct Message @hunk @darkwolfboy – Wed, Nov 21, 2018, 5:47 AM CST_ **

**darkwolfboy** _Today at 5:47 AM_  
Hey, lance told me that you turned your phone off but when you turn it back on you should go to the gym, like the ymca  
They’ve got showers and food and stuff  
Also libraries are good places during the day

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 5:51 AM_  
I know your dads a cop so that’s a no go  
Fuck the police anyway  
Don’t use any debit/credit card you might have unless you want to be found

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 5:55 AM  
_ There’s probably a few churches with a soup kitchen or smth around you should be able to slip into

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 5:59 AM  
_ And wash your socks whenever you’ve got a good place together

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 6:08 AM_  
Just hold tight  
Keep moving but don’t go too far and wear yourself out

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 6:11 AM  
_ We’re coming for you, buddy

* * *

**_Houston, TX – Wed, Nov 21, 2018, 6:37 AM CST_ **

“Hey, Kole. I quit.”

Kole, Keith’s boss and landlord, glanced back at him from the stove, then turned back to his frying pan. “Mornin’, kid. Sausage or bacon?”

Keith scowled. “Didn’t you _hear_ me? I _said-_ ”

“Yeah, yeah, I heard ya, don’t get your panties in a wad. Answer the question.”

Keith scoffed. “Sausage, I guess.” Kole nodded and pulled two patties out of the pack as Keith slinked over to the coffee maker, pouring some into his waiting mug, but staying out of grease-popping distance. “Ain’t you gonna say something?” Keith asked after another minute of before-breakfast silence. Kole shrugged, white rattail falling off his shoulder to lay down his spine.

“Seems to me like you got more to say about it than I do.” He took the sausage and bacon off the skillet with a spatula, setting them on a paper towel-covered plate and placing it on the battered kitchen table next to his own coffee and the toast waiting on them. Keith sidled to his usual chair as Kole slathered a piece of toast in red currant jam and took a bite. “So. What’s the problem this time.”

Keith glared. Kole met his glare head-on, chewing slowly. Keith looked away first, scowling at the steaming sausage. He took one with his fingers, munching on it as he stared into his coffee. “It’s not – not one of the _usual_ problems,” he growled through his teeth, chomping on sausage. Kole hummed over the crunch of burnt toast in the still of the outdated, honey-brown kitchen. Kole’s house never really felt like it belonged to him, partly because he had inherited it from some great-aunt with terrible seventies taste and he had never bothered to change the wallpaper, but also because he was rarely alone in it, his two spare rooms a revolving door of unlucky friends and couch-surfing ex-bikers. Keith was the only one imposing right now, but the shadows of the previous occupants lingered like ghosts, pictures on the fridge and scrapes on the door frames. He was being nice by letting Keith crash here longer than any other recent guest – going on eight months now – but Keith’s skin had been itching every time he stepped inside since before his birthday.

He was kind of tired of being yet another stray fed off the back porch.

“Keith?”

Keith jerked out of it with a snort, snapping up right. He had almost passed out on the table. He hadn’t really fallen asleep until after two, and had bad dreams until his five thirty alarm. He rubbed at his face and mumbled, “Sorry.” He grabbed another piece of sausage, contemplating the best angle to approach this from. “So… not sure if you know, but… I play _WoW_. Uh. _World of Warcraft_. And some other stuff. Have for a few years now.” He glanced up to Kole’s patient, weathered face. “It’s – it’s pretty much all I got, outside the shop.”

Kole nodded. “Didn’t know what it was exactly, but I’d have to be deaf not to hear you yelling at yourself almost every night.” Keith wrinkled his nose, and Kole’s mouth twitched – as close as he got to a smile before seven. “So, what about it?”

Keith chugged at his chilling coffee. “Well, I mostly play with this one guild – group. They’re good people, I guess.” He tapped his mug on the table, watching the vibrations wave across his coffee. “One of the best of us’s got a shit dad and got kicked out last night. So I’m going to Cali to keep him alive so he doesn’t have to crawl back.” He ground his teeth on sausage bits. “And… I don’t know when I’ll be coming back here.” He swallowed. “If.”

Kole didn’t say anything as he jammed up another toast slice, knife scraping. “So. What’re you still doing here?” Keith whipped up to look at Kole with wide eyes. Kole’s eyes narrowed just a bit over his toast. “What, you think _I’ll_ keep you from helping a friend out? I’m just your boss, not your jailor, kid.” His yellow teeth flashed. “Kinda surprised I didn’t wake up to a note on the fridge, honestly.”

Keith clenched his jaw and glared at the fridge. “Well… that was Plan A.” Kole snorted. “But one of my other guildmates is going, too. He’s completely useless but he’s got a car, and he was coming through here anyway, so we’re gonna drive over together.” He leant back in the kitchen chair, kicking up his feet on a brace under the table. “He messaged me earlier when he left Miami, but he won’t get here until late.” He wrinkled his lip. “His car probably won’t fit us _and_ Red, though.”

“You try to put a bike inside any car and I’ll skin you alive, boy, I swear I will.” Keith grinned behind his coffee. Kole sighed and copied his pose, chair squeaking. “Well, we’ll just have to hold onto her until you make your way back around these parts.” Keith blinked at him, but Kole just stared him down. “What do you say to one more day on the payroll before you drive off into the wild blue yonder?”

Keith shoved down a slow smile. “Sure. It’ll pass the time, I guess.” Kole huffed and pushed the toast and jam plate across the table. Keith took two slices.

* * *

**_MSN Messenger – To: _💗 siren 💗 amor 💗_ From: HUNKtastic – Mon, Jan 14, 2013, 8:15 PM PST_ **

_HUNKtastic says:  
_ hey, you awake?

_💗 siren 💗 amor 💗 says:  
_ yeah!! what’s up my man?

_HUNKtastic says:  
_ had another fight w dad

_💗 siren 💗 amor 💗 says:_  
:((((((  
wanna talk about it bb?

 _HUNKtastic says:_  
i dunno  
but i dont want to be alone rn

 _💗 siren 💗 amor 💗 says:_  
I gotchu babe  
wanna hear about the stupid shit marco got into this weekend?

_HUNKtastic says:_   
please

_💗 siren 💗 amor 💗 says:_  
well, u kno his gf lives right by an elem school, right? Well, someone got the bright idea to climb on TOP of the thing to make out and smoke or whatever…

* * *

**_I-95 N, Mile Marker 220, FL – Wed, Nov 21, 2018, 8:39 AM EST_ **

Lance had only been driving for about four hours, and his butt was already hurting. His mom, somehow awake again only three hours after their kitchen heart-to-heart, had forced him to eat something and made him normal coffee. He ran away before anyone else could wake up and try to talk him out of it – all of his mental fortitude had been poured into convincing his mom he could do this, that he would be fine, that yes he would call, that he had to go _now_ …

He couldn’t do this. He would _not_ be fine. But he was going anyway.

He took a deep breath, reaching for his damp wad of glove compartment napkins to wipe at his stupid face. He couldn’t stop spiraling, thinking about what was going on in northern California – it had been a full ten hours since Hunk had left his house, nine since he stopped responding to Lance’s texts. He could be anywhere, lost, picked up by one of his dad’s cop friends, picked up by his _dad_ , it was probably _raining_ -

He exhaled, focusing on the rear window of the sedan he was following like a pace horse down the interstate. He couldn’t break down here. He hadn’t even gotten halfway through _Florida_ yet. He had to get his life in order. He could fall apart once he got there.

God, why was Florida so _big?_

He fumbled for his thermos, draining the last few drops of lukewarm coffee with a head tilt that almost made him swerve. He hadn’t hooked up his phone to his speakers that morning, relying on the radio to fill the void, but maybe it was about time to pump Carly Rae Jepsen to pull him out of the funk. If she couldn’t do it, no one could.

A blue sign blew past him, announcing a rest stop in two miles. He didn’t want to stop. Hunk _needed_ him to get there as soon as his rickety blue Highlander could make it, and stopping was not moving. But… Hunk was also the one who always yelled at him for not taking care of himself – when he was staying up too late and overdosing on caffeine, he was the one who calmed Lance down when he got worked up like he was now. If he would respond to his texts, he would be screaming at him to get off at the stupid rest stop. Lance smiled to himself – God, he would be so pissed at Lance right now. Yeah. He needed a Gatorade after losing so much fluids bawling his eyes out. He flipped his blinker, flicking his fingers in a farewell as his pace sedan sped on.

Houston couldn’t get here fast enough.

* * *

**_Discord – Direct Message @hunk @shiro – Fri, Sep 28, 2018, 11:17 PM PST_ **

**HUNK** _Today at 11:17 PM  
_ yo shiro??

 **shiro** _Today at 11:19 PM  
_ yeah?

 **HUNK** _Today at 11:19 PM_  
Just wondering why tf youre the only one still online xP  
isn’t it like, 2am your time?

 **shiro** _Today at 11:19 PM_  
oh  
yeah I guess  
just can’t sleep

 **HUNK** _Today at 11:20 PM  
_ anything special going on?

 **shiro** _Today at 11:22 PM_  
not really  
just one of those nights, I guess

 **HUNK** _Today at 11:22 PM_  
Got it  
well I’m totally stumped on my hw and was gonna run a few dungeons to clear my head… wanna join?

 **shiro** _Today at 11:24 PM_  
yeah  
yeah that sounds great :)

 **HUNK** _Today at 11:25 PM  
_ Cool!! Let me just get set up and I’ll pop us in the queue?

 **shiro** _Today at 11:25 PM  
_ 👍

 **HUNK** _Today at 11:25 PM  
_ ☀️☀️

* * *

**_Fort Leavenworth, KS – Wed, Nov 21, 2018, 7:44 AM CST_ **

Shiro knocked on Commander Iverson’s office door, waiting for the gruff _“come on in_ ” to open the door and step inside. Iverson, his current on-site supervisor, glanced up, his one eye squinting. “Shirogane. Don’t you have a class?”

“In a few.” He crossed the smallish office, not sitting in the visitor chair when Iverson nodded at it, but bracing on the back with his hand and resting his prosthetic on the top. “Just wanted to let you know that I’m taking some vacation time, starting this afternoon. I should be back in a week.” His smile pulled tight at the corners of his mouth. “I already called Garrison, they’re sending a backup down over the weekend to cover my classes until I get back.”

Iverson stared at him, years of sun and frowning making his face inscrutable, before he grumbled and turned back to his computer. “About damn time you took off. I was getting’ worried ‘bout you.” Shiro blinked, but Iverson just waved him off, forehead furrowed at his screen. “You’re only hearing this because I haven’t had my second cup of coffee, but you deserve a break.” Iverson went on without looking up from his email at Shiro’s shocked face, “You powered through your rehab, and I know you ain’t taken a real vacation since. Don’t know you well enough to know how, but I’m sure it’s eating at ya.” He tapped his temple next to his missing eye. “Take it from someone who’s been there. Sometimes you gotta give yourself a break.”

Shiro drummed his fingers on the chair back. “Well… thank you, sir.” He grinned. “I’ll be sure not to tell anyone you’ve gone soft.” Iverson snorted, spinning his chair to give Shiro a one-eyed glare. “I gotta get to class now, sir,” he said, pushing off the chair to attention. “I’ll see you when I get back.”

Iverson grumbled and waved him off. “Get to work, Shirogane. And Happy Thanksgiving.”

“Same to you, sir.” Iverson grumbled as Shiro closed the door behind him, clenching the doorknob hard for a second. Two more classes, then Pidge and Matt would be here to pick him up. Pidge, who he had never met in person before, and Matt, who hadn’t seen him since he was a full human in basic training. He sighed, prosthetic twitching. Nowhere to go but forward.

* * *

**_Discord – Direct Message @hunk @pigforce – Wed, Nov 14, 2018, 11:43 PM CST_ **

**PiGForce** _Today at 11:43 PM  
_ AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

 **HUNK** _Today at 11:43 PM  
_ yes dear

 **PiGForce** _Today at 11:43 PM  
_ I HATE THERMO!!!

 **HUNK** _Today at 11:43 PM_  
as do we all.  
do you need help?

 **PiGForce** _Today at 11:43 PM  
_ I need to find the dumb white man who invented thermo and kick him in the dick

 **HUNK** _Today at 11:44 PM  
_ you’re going to punch god?

 **PiGForce** _Today at 11:44 PM  
_ y not, ed did it SO CAN I

 **HUNK** _Today at 11:44 PM  
_ you do share many similarities………….

 **PiGForce** _Today at 11:44 PM_  
be the al to my ed, hunk  
do my thermo for me

 **HUNK** _Today at 11:45 PM_  
that’s academic treason and you know it!!  
I don’t ask YOU to do my pain in the ass e &m shit

 **PiGForce** _Today at 11:46 PM  
_ PLEASE let me trade with you

 **HUNK** _Today at 11:46 PM  
_ NO

 **PiGForce** _Today at 11:46 PM  
_ I will give my imaginary firstborn to do e&m instead of this garbage

 **HUNK** _Today at 11:47 PM  
_ strong words from a child who hates children

 **PiGForce** _Today at 11:47 PM_  
Bite me boy  
at least tell me what you’re doing? 83c

 **HUNK** _Today at 11:48 PM_  
…. Fine  
but only if you tell me about yours first

 **PiGForce** _Today at 11:48 PM_  
ur such a bitch  
I’m sending u a dropbox link and I deserve all of the physics in return

 **HUNK** _Today at 11:49 PM_  
you realize thermo is also physics, correct  
but you can see it…….. once  
as long as you don’t try to do it for me

 **PiGForce** _Today at 11:50 PM_  
I make no such promises  
but I promise not to share it with you

 **HUNK** _Today at 11:50 PM  
_ 😒

 **PiGForce** _Today at 11:50 PM  
_ 😏

* * *

**_I-40 W, Mile Marker 195, IA – Wed, Nov 21, 2018, 8:31 AM CST_ **

“Pidgey, please tell me again why we couldn’t take my car if I’m going to be driving the whole way?”

“Because your car is terrifying and doesn’t have WiFi.” Matt grumbled from his hunch over her Fiat’s steering wheel, glaring down the highway towards Des Moines. Pidge adjusted her laptop on her knees, frowning at her screen. “Whoever built this school’s portal was a dingbat,” she grumbled.

“We really need to upgrade your vocab, little sis.” She gave him the finger without looking, which he slapped down also without looking. “I can’t believe you’re hacking into a university’s academic website,” he complained. “Do you really have to blackhat right in front of my salad?”

“It’s not blackhat if it’s for a friend,” she snapped back, “and it’s _really_ not blackhat if their sysadmin is this much of a walnut idiot.”

“Still. I’ve had more than enough ethical dilemmas for one day without adding academic forgery to the mix.”

“It’s _not_ academic forgery if I already know what he would _do!_ ” she growled as she scrolled through her files to find the copies Hunk didn’t know she made of the homework they had worked on together all semester up to a few days ago. “And Mom can take her ‘disappointing the family’ guilt and _shove_ it,” she said with an emphatic punch of the touchpad.

“She’ll make you pay for this at Christmas,” he pointed out. “Make _us_ pay.”

“Make _you_ pay. It’s just _one_ holiday.”

“She will extract that toll in kitchen chores and passive-aggressive presents and you know it.”

Pidge gave a huge shrug, submitting Hunk’s post-Thanksgiving assignment for his calculus class a few days early and moving on to materials engineering. “She’ll get over it once she understands why.” She hadn’t kept as good of personal notes on this subject of Hunk’s mechanical engineering program, so she crawled her way through the academic portal to its section and syllabus. “One of the big backup plans is dragging him home with us, so he better get his charm pants on and he’ll make it up for both of us.”

Matt drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “Not that I don’t think Mom and Dad won’t be up for that – they probably will – but maybe… maybe you should tread carefully with that one.” At Pidge’s sharp profile look, Matt shrugged. “Look, I don’t know much about this friend of yours or what trouble he’s in, but if it’s like you say, he might be a bit more… rattled than you might expect once we get there.”  He flipped his blinker to go around a semi. “He might not be ready to up and leave for Iowa just like that – _and_ keep his charm pants on.” He flashed a smile at Pidge. “Just – be patient, okay?”

She snorted. “I’m _always_ patient.” The school portal timed out on her, and she slapped the side of her laptop. “Oh, come _on!_ ” she cried. Matt laughed.

* * *

**_Auburn, CA – Wed, Nov 21, 2018, 6:49 AM PST_ **

It was barely past sunrise, but Hunk was already awake and about, trying to take up as little space as possible in the back of Shay’s brother’s truck on the way to their job for the day. Shay, the nice McDonald’s cashier, had listened to his story for her whole break, then insisted on clocking out early (with her coworkers covering for her) to take her home to her family’s apartment and let him crash on their couch. Her brother had had some choice words to say about her bringing home a random stranger that was potentially wanted by the cops after midnight; they had argued in their language while Hunk shuffled his feet by the pockmarked door. Eventually, though, Shay seemed to win, and she showed Hunk through to their crowded, homey common room and made up the couch for him, insisting he take it and a shower, no matter what he tried to say. He would have hugged her if her brother wasn’t scowling at them from the kitchen, so he just thanked her a lot and washed all of the long day away in their tiny bathroom.

She had gone back to work when he got out, her brother waiting with crossed arms and a tapping foot. He was less good with English than Shay, but still made it clear that he didn’t trust Hunk as far as he could throw him, and that this was _not_ happening the next night. Hunk was too tired of fighting to fight it, so he just nodded at everything and curled up under a pile of crocheted afghans to sleep as best he could. He got shaken awake a few hours later, though, and grumbled at that he was helping them with their morning job until he figured out where to go next. He had no idea what the morning job was – still didn’t, even as they were on their way to it – but one of the older family members had fed him breakfast along with the rest, and the parents looked at him with sad, kind eyes, so he would do whatever they asked in return.

The truck yanked to a halt, the others with him in the back that they had picked up along the way swaying with Hunk. They all jumped out, Hunk a step behind as he glanced over their destination. They had stopped at a gravel pulloff underneath the main highway in town, a few other assorted trucks parked around an encamped trailer with a landscaping logo printed on the side. The people who had already arrived were clustered around the trailer, claiming yard equipment and talking to each other. Oh. This was fine. He could handle a leafblower.

He hopped out and followed Shay’s brother to the trailer, waiting as he and the supervisor-looking guy chattered in their language (Hunk couldn’t place it – it kind of sounded like Spanish, but it was in a dialect that made it sound completely foreign). There was a lot of hands waving at him and the duffel slung over his shoulder before the supervisor rounded on him and asked in English, “This one. How old?”

Hunk swallowed. “Twenty-one, sir.” He took a chance and pointed at the trailer. “And, uh, I can op- uh, use all of that stuff.”

There was some more frenzied not-Spanish exchanged, then the supervisor nodded and marched back to the bulk of his workers. Shay’s brother came back to Hunk and stuttered out, “You will work today for the last night’s stay. You will go somewhere _else_ after.”

Hunk nodded, throat tight. “Okay. Got it.”

Shay’s brother gave one more glare, then stomped past him to his truck, throwing open the cab. He shoved an orange safety vest and an old baseball hat at Hunk, pointing at Hunk’s bag. “Leave the bagged things in here.” Hunk nodded again, shrugging his duffel off and tossing it on a seat.

He pulled on the safety vest and crammed the hat on his head, both items a little too small for him. This was _weird_ – he went from being a normal college student to an undocumented landscaper in just a night. Shay and her family were being super nice to him, even if her brother was on the suspicious side, so it was fine to work a little to pay them back. But where the _hell_ did he go once their hospitality ran out? He definitely couldn’t go home now – God, his dad must be _furious,_ his turned-off phone in his bag was most like a hot mess-

A small engine sputtered and died by the trailer. Hunk perked up as the operator cursed, pulling the cord again to no avail. Their friend laughed at them, hefting their working weed whacker and getting a sneer in response. Hunk glanced over at Shay’s brother – he was talking to the supervisor more and back turned to Hunk. Hunk closed the truck cab door and slinked over to the faulty engine, fingers itching.

“Um. Hi.” The bad operator and his teasing friend looked up. Hunk smiled and pointed to himself. “I can fix that.” The bad operator raised an eyebrow, but handed the weed whacker over. Hunk perched on a pile of mulch bags, laying the engine in his lap. “Um, tools?” he asked, miming a wrench turn. The friend, grinning still, hopped in the trailer and emerged with an orange toolbox, plopping it down at his side. He dug around in it – glanced up at his audience. _Play to your strengths, big guy_ , Lance’s voice said in his head. Hunk smiled and got to work.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> {A/N: This is a fun story to write and I'm enjoying myself with no regrets. [twitter](http://www.twitter.com/carriecmoney) [tumblr](http://carriecmoney.tumblr.com)}

**_Gmail – Sat, May 23, 2015, 7:45 PM CST_ **

**From: rob0t_socks@gmail.com  
To: shiro1@hotmail.com, pigforce@gmail.com**

**Subject: WoW, Real Friends!!  
** _Sat, May 23, 2015, 7:45 PM_

Hey Shiro!

Been a while! Heard about your discharge through the grapevine… that’s rough, bro. I’m here if you need me. But more importantly! I just found out that my little sis plays that WOW game you always liked! She’s on this email, too, so if you two wanna pal up and play some vidja gamez, there you have it! And no sweat if you don’t :):):)

lmk what your latest phone number is and I’ll call to catch up!

Matt H

````

**From: pigforce@gmail.com  
To: shiro1@hotmail.com, rob0t_socks@gmail.com**

**Subject: RE: WOW, Real Friends!!  
** _Sat, May 23, 2015, 7:58 PM_

Wow, matt. great ‘now kiss’ work there. A+, gold star.

Hi shiro, sorry matt’s such a dimwit. I guess you already knew that about him. He’s right, tho, I’ve been in WoW for a while, and my guild is a little light on the players atm so we’re always looking for new recruits. If you’re still into it, we could do a trial run. But first: alliance or horde???

````

**From: shiro1@hotmail.com  
To: pigforce@gmail.com, rob0t_socks@gmail.com**

**Subject: RE: WOW, Real Friends!!  
** _Sat, May 23, 2015, 9:31 PM_

Hey Matt:) Nice to hear from you. Hope everything’s going well. Where are you stationed at these days? If I’m ever nearby, it’ll be fun to catch up.

Hi, Matt’s sister:) Yeah, I used to play a lot before I got deployed, and I’ve been starting to pick it up again lately. Only a few of my old friends still play, though, so it’s mostly me and the one or two others I can catch to run a dungeon together. I’m still pretty rusty, though. I wouldn’t mind doing a trial run with your guild to see how we fit together – it would be nice to have a team again. What times/dates work for you?

shiro

PS – I’ve played both sides of the fence through the years, so I can be flexible:)

````

**From: pigforce@gmail.com  
To: shiro1@hotmail.com**

**Subject: RE: WOW, Real Friends!!  
** _Sat, May 23, 2015, 9:46 PM_

Rusty is just fine. Our (ALLIANCE, FUCK THE HORDE) guild is kinda all over the place skill wise, anyway, so it won’t be a problem.

Matt doesn’t actually care about this stuff so I’m taking him off the chain. He’ll be fine. Our guild is only about 15 people right now, so we raid pretty small, and we play kinda early bc there’s lot of europeans in it, usually on the weekends. We’re trying to get enough for a euro and a north am raid party, but we’re not quite there yet in numbers. If you’re free sometime this weekend, I could set it up for you to run a dungeon or two with us. No expectations, just personality meshing and stuff. U in?

````

**From: shiro1@hotmail.com  
To: pigforce@gmail.com**

**Subject: RE: WOW, Real Friends!!  
** _Sat, May 23, 2015, 9:55 PM_

Sounds great. I’ll be free most of tomorrow, so just tell me when and where.

BTW – I hate to say it, but I can’t remember your name. Is it kate?

shiro

````

**From:pigforce@gmail.com  
To: shiro1@hotmail.com**

**Subject: RE: WOW, Real Friends!!  
** _Sat, May 23, 2015, 9:58 PM_

Cool. Lemme get on it.

Just call me pidge. Everyone else does.

* * *

**_Fort Leavenworth, KS – Wed, Nov 21, 2018, 12:46 PM CST_ **

Shiro was a little early to the bus station outside the fort where he told Pidge and Matt to pick him up. He had expected escaping his classes and packing to take longer, but with Thanksgiving tomorrow and as little as he had to his name, his morning had passed in a slow breeze. Now he sat on the cold metal bench, waiting for the strange mental image of a kelly green Fiat to roll up and take him to California.

He checked the guild Discord server while he waited, picking at the slow channel updates like an almost-healed scab. By now the whole guild had heard some form of what had happened the night before and that the American captains were on their way to save their yellow lion. There were a lot of expressed sympathies and wishes for safe travels and safe returns, but theirs was a fairly spread-out and international guild, so none of the other members had the proximity or flexibility to join their quest. Shiro wouldn’t say it, but it was probably for the best – Hunk might appreciate five people coming to his aid, but twenty might be overkill.

He answered Allura’s hourly ‘what’s going on?’ direct message, fingers numb even out of the wind. Poor girl – he could tell she wanted to join in the hunt, even after playing Devil’s advocate the night before, but it wasn’t as easy as hopping in a car for a few days to get to California from Bristol. The least he could do was keep her informed.

A cute honk as an engine pulled up in front of him pulled him out of charcoal grey. He pocketed his phone and stood as, yes, that was definitely a kelly green Fiat jerked to a halt in front of him. He waved with his hook as both doors opened – oh, Matt hadn’t changed a bit, and his sister was just a foot and a half shorter carbon copy of him. They were still bickering with each other about something – Matt choked off when his brain finally registered Shiro’s hook. “Oh my _God_ ,” he yelled.

“ _What?_ ” Pidge screeched back – oh, she was so _little_. Shiro’s mouth twitched, and he didn’t put his hook in his coat pocket fast enough for her not to see it. She shoved her yellow-tinted glasses up on top of her head, mouth open as her eyes ticked all over Shiro.

“Hey, Pidge,” he said. “Nice to finally meet you.”

Her face screwed up, tight and red. She slammed the car door behind her, stomping across dirty snow to punch him in the stomach. He let out a little gasp – more from the surprise than the impact – as Matt yelled at her and she punched him again. “You _bitch!_ ” she screamed as close to her face as her height would allow. “How are you _that good_ with only _one arm?_ ”

Shiro stared into her furious hazel eyes for a beat, then burst out laughing, grabbing her with his arm and holding her close for a hug. She stiffened, then threw her arms around his neck, burying her face in his scarf. “Please, never change,” he begged, prosthetic stabilizing her side.

“Wasn’t planning on it,” she told silk. They let each other go, Pidge wiping her face on his coat. “I have _so_ many questions,” she said, smile trickling through.

“Luckily, we’ve got a lot of time.” He stepped away to better look at Matt, who was waiting with big eyes on the curb. “Sorry, Matt, I should have warned you.”

“No _shit_ you should have!” Matt gestured at Shiro’s everything, a strangled noise escaping his open mouth. “Dude! I knew you were in some accident, but – _dude!_ And your _hair?_ ”

Shiro shrugged with his left shoulder, running fingers through his greying hair. “Yeah, well, it happens.” He held out his left hand, which Matt grasped with both of his, pulling him in a for a one-arm hug. “Thanks, by the way,” he said as they separated. “You didn’t have to come out here with us and miss Thanksgiving.”

Matt grinned, a little shaky, but with some of his old humor trickling back. “And miss out on seeing you? No way!”

“There’s a bus coming!” Pidge cried from the car. “Come on, boys, get in before they run us over!”

“They wouldn’t be able to do that if we had taken _my_ car!” Matt snapped back, running to the driver’s side anyway. Pidge had already thrown Shiro’s duffel in what passed for a trunk in this… machine, so he waited for her to squeeze herself in the back seat and fold the passenger chair down so he could join them inside, the bus creaking up behind them. Matt had already got the Maps directions rerouted by the time he was inside, and tore off as soon as Shiro’s car door was closed, talking along with the pre-programmed voice in an eerie facsimile. Pidge leant in between the seats, eyes shining as they looked at his hook. “So, Shiro, how far up does it go?”

Matt groaned, banging his head against the headrest. Shiro laughed and braced himself to answer her questions.

* * *

**_Discord – VoltronCoalition – #kidz-korner 🔒 – Wed, Nov 21, 2018, 2:11 PM CST_ **

**PiGForce** _Today at 2:11 PM_  
IMPORTANT UPDATE ALERT: SHIRO HAS A FAKE RIGHT ARM???  
JPEG_20181121_141201.jpg  
Can’t believe this bitch is as good a gamer as he is this is BullShit  
He says he uses it for his mouse and learning how to do that is why he sucked when he first joined Voltron  
He’s also just as nice a person as he is online? I’m just so PISSED

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 2:30 PM  
_ Wait, y’all didn’t know about his arm?

 **PiGForce** _Today at 2:31 PM  
_ No!!!

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 2:34 PM  
_ Oh

 **PiGForce** _Today at 2:38 PM  
_ INFURIATED, darky! How DARE you keep this from me!!

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 2:39 PM_  
I thought everyone knew! It’s not my fault he doesn’t tell anyone anything!  
Do you know how long it took to find out his first name?

 **PiGForce** _Today at 2:43 PM  
_ HE HAS A FIRST NAME??

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 2:44 PM  
_ Full name: takashi shirogane

 **PiGForce** _Today at 2:44 PM_  
Motherffucker BITCH  
Omg he looked like a kicked puppy when I called him that and matt almost had to pull over from laughing  
WHY IS HE LIKE THIS?  
Also he says hi keith  
And he wants to know if you’ve quit your job yet like the fool you are

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 2:48 PM  
_ When you called him his name or motherfucker bitch?

 **PiGForce** _Today at 2:48 PM_  
His name, he already knows he’s a bitch  
Also answer the question

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 2:49 PM  
_ I tried, but Kole’s too much of a pushover  
I’m doing one more shift today then going to walmart before lance gets here  
_@sirenamor_ , when you see this, what do you want to eat for the trip

 **PiGForce** _Today at 2:53 PM  
_ Shiro says good, and also to keep telling me all of his secrets :3c

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 2:53 PM_  
1\. No he didn’t 2. Breaks over so I can’t anyway  
Enjoy your tormenting solo

 **PiGForce** _Today at 2:54 PM  
_ Boooo

 **sirenamor** _Today at 3:22 PM_  
Um does walmart sell shiros bc that is a certified grade a SNACK  
WHY IS NO ONE MENTIONING THAT JAWLINE OMG  
Y’all I’m dying over here holy shit

 **PiGForce** _Today at 3:24 PM  
_ Jfc lance get a drink and quench that thirst

 **sirenamor** _Today at 3:25 PM_  
Why do you think I’m stopped?  
Blueness needs a drink and now so do I hot DAMN  
Please sneak as many more sneak pics of the finery as you wish my lovely pidgeotto

 **PiGForce** _Today at 3:26 PM_  
JPEG_20181121_152617.jpg  
psych

 **sirenamor** _Today at 3:27 PM  
_ Bow chicka bow wow

 **PiGForce** _Today at 3:27 PM  
_ I will pay you never to express attraction to my brother ever again

 **sirenamor** _Today at 3:28 PM  
_ Damn that’s /your/ brother? He doesn’t look like the relative of a gremlin

 **PiGForce** _Today at 3:28 PM  
_ Bite me punk

 **sirenamor** _Today at 3:29 PM  
_ For real tho _@darkwolfboy_ I’m just past mobile al and I like mt dew and chips

 **PiGForce** _Today at 3:29 PM  
_ You’re such a shitty gamer

 **sirenamor** _Today at 3:30 PM  
_ I know you are but what am I  
_@darkwolfboy_ I should get to your address about 10:30, unless I hit traffic somewhere

 **PiGForce** _Today at 3:30 PM_  
Or unless you crash in a ditch because you fainted from exhaustion  
Eat something sometime, yeah?  
You’re no use if you show up half dead

 **sirenamor** _Today at 3:31 PM_  
Yeah yeah I got a snack bc shiros too far away to sample ;)  
Also bc hunk was screaming at me in my head  
I hope he’s okay  
He hasn’t answered me since last nigt  
Oh god he’s dead

 **PiGForce** _Today at 3:32 PM_  
He’s not dead  
And he’ll reply in his own time, just give him space  
We’ll get there. We have to

 **sirenamor** _Today at 3:33 PM_  
Yeah. Thanks big p  
Back on the road time, talk to yall in abt 300 miles

* * *

**_I-80 W, Mile Marker 385, NE – Wed, Nov 21, 2018, 3:35 PM CST_ **

Pidge had run out of Hunk’s homework to do for him already. She had turned in anything with an open assignment in the school portal, done all of the thinking and the work for the ones that had to be handed in in person so Hunk just had to copy them down in his handwriting – not that he would. He was too weal for that. All that was left were the projects for his finals, which Pidge had the starts of somewhere on her machine’s hard drive. She _could_ get a bigger start on those… or she could do her own homework. But her own homework was lame, and not potentially lost forever or cracked over her dad’s knee. _Her_ dad probably couldn’t break any hardware if he _tried_.

She closed her laptop and put it aside, crossing her legs and bouncing her knees. Matt and Shiro were have a grand old time catching up now that Matt was over the hook shock ( _the shook_ ), his trashy white boy metal ­on low in the background. The highway ahead was off-white and uninteresting, fading into the Nebraska distance under a line of salt-crusted cars. Matt was driving at a good pace despite his consuming conversation, but Pidge just wanted to be _there_.

She tilted forward and banged her face into the back of Matt’s seat. His laugh trailed off into a hum. “Tired already?” he asked in an undertone to Shiro’s story. She moaned, rolling her forehead back and forth on the seat. “You know, if we stop every few hours, we’ll never make it to California.”

She huffed. “Yeah, I know.” She turned to press her cheek to the edge of the seat, making eye contact with a curious Shiro. “Do you think he’s okay?” she asked him.

“Well, I hope he’s at least in a _little_ bit of distress,” Matt answered, “otherwise we’re pissing Mom off for nothing!”

Shiro shook his head with a smile. “I’m sure he’s – handling it,” he said, skating around the word ‘fine’. “Hunk’s a good guy, I’m sure he’s found people to help him out.”

“Mmm, yeah.” Pidge frowned. “But he hasn’t texted Lance back all day.”

Shiro’s brows furrowed. “Oh. Hm.”

“Which one is Lance again?” Matt asked.

“The Miami guy,” Pidge droned. “The idiot who flirts.”

“Oh, yeah, _that_ guy. What, are he and your Cali friend close or something?”

Pidge huffed. “They’ve been friends since – actually, I have no idea how they met. A long ass time. They’re almost like siblings sometimes. Even when Hunk’s gone dark before, he’s _always_ texted Lance at some point in the day.” She clicked her phone to its lock screen – no new notifications from the channel she, Hunk, Lance, and Keith had set up for the younger half of their captains’ group. She clicked it off again. “I just hope nothing _worse_ has happened to him,” she mumbled.

“He’ll be fine, Pidge.” Shiro smiled over his shoulder at her. “He’s a good kid, and he’s friendly. Lance would have heard something if he _wasn’t_ okay, I’d like to think.”

Pidge sighed. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

“Wait, _what_ did you just call Katie?” Matt asked through a laugh. Pidge groaned and slammed her face into his seat again.

“It’s – it’s my online handle,” she mumbled. “Stop laughing!”

Shiro blinked at them with doe eyes a man his size and stature should _not_ possess. “What, what’s so funny?” Matt coughed himself under control, hacking and wheezing and Pidge was gonna _kill_ him.

“Nothing’s funny!” she yelled, punching Matt’s shoulder.

“That’s – that’s her pet _family_ nickname,” he gasped through laughs anyway like a bitch. “See, when she was little, she-”

“ _Matt!_ ”

* * *

  ** _Auburn, CA – Wed, Nov 21, 2018, 1:51 PM PST_**

Hunk had almost forgotten why he was out here, fixing yard equipment for these happy… some Hispanic-country immigrants. Once he got the first weed whacker pulling pretty, the supervisor had put him to work on their backlog of malfunctioning equipment. It was nice, tinkering with machinery outside of his usual hiding spot of the cluttered garage in their latest house for people who didn’t yell at him for it. None of them could understand his Spanish accent, which he knew was a rotten mix of Californian, Cuban, and Filipino that only his mom and Lance understood. Lance was probably worried _sick_ about him-

He shook himself out of it and focused on the real problem – lunch. The workers all chipped in a little extra from their lunchboxes when it was obvious he didn’t have any, so he had a wild assortment of chip bags, bottled water, and empanadas spread out on a paper napkin in his lap. He was sitting on Shay’s brother’s tailgate between two of them now, the crew all joking and laughing around him and stumbling through some English when they wanted him to join in. It was nice and warm now that the sun was out, and none of them asked many questions of him besides his name and if he preferred chicken or beef. It was still a little odd, having total strangers call him by his online handle, but he could definitely get used to it. It felt like being with friends – not his guildmates, exactly, but like the merry go round of quick connections he had made at his schools through the years, superficial but happy. He had gotten very good at that.

He was just shoving the last empanada in his mouth when a cop car drove past them on the road they were parked by. It didn’t have its sirens or lights on and cruised on past without even slowing, but Hunk had jumped off the tailgate and was crouched behind the bed before he could even think. His lunch friends blinked at him, confused at amused. “Are you… in good health?” one of the younger ones asked, leaning over the side of the truck bed with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. Hunk stood too fast, pulling on his safety vest.

“Oh, uh – yeah, estoy bien,” he lied, trying not to stare after the cop car. “I just – I probably should go,” he said, to the groans and cries of those who heard.

The guy who had asked pouted, pushing his hat up on his head a little. “Pero Hunk has not been given the right time to fix the lawnmower!” he protested with a wink. Hunk tried to smile, but the falling smirk gave its failure away. “Something is _not_ all right,” he said.

“I don’t want to get you guys involved,” he muttered, making more than one face frown. “I’ll just – go,” he said, turning towards – some random direction, he didn’t care.

A hand caught on his elbow. He stopped, blinked at Shay’s brother’s steady dark eyes. “Be still.” Shay’s brother didn’t smile, but dropped his hand, gesturing to the truck. “Be gotten in the truck. I will take you.”

Hunk stared. “But… why?”

Shay’s brother tried to smile. “Shay will slay me if I do not assist in any manner.” He pointed at Hunk’s chest. “I will be needing that vest back.”

“Oh. Yeah, sure, si, of course.” He shrugged it off, handing it over as the crew who had been eating lunch all climbed off the truck, some coming over to slap Hunk’s arm and wish him well. He smiled for real this time, some of the sour knot behind his ribs loosening.

He and Shay’s brother climbed in the truck. Hunk pulled his duffel into his lap, holding its weight closed as Shay’s brother fought to start the engine. “So,” Shay’s brother said as he pulled out of the gravel lot, “where is it that you will go?”

Hunk stared down at his duffel’s worn zipper. What _was_ in this town, anyway? He hadn’t had the time to explore it in full yet, didn’t know if there was a community center or a nice park or a mall – what did every town this size have by way of un-policed public spaces? Hunk swallowed. “Can you take me to the library?”

“Biblioteca?” Hunk nodded. Shay’s brother shot him a look, but turned right at the road, waving at his coworkers as they passed. He muttered something in Spanish, too quietly for Hunk to pick up, but headed back towards the center of town. Hunk slid down in his seat and pulled his hat down over his eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> {A/N: This one took a little longer to get ready to post than I wanted, between work travel, family visiting, formatting, and coordinating with my consultants, but here it is! There is another Spanish conversation between Lance and his mom, and like last time, the English is translated in the hovertext for desktop. Kole is Kolivan, if it's not obvious. [tumblr](http://carriecmoney.tumblr.com) [twitter](http://www.twitter.com/carriecmoney)}

**_World of Warcraft – Bloodmaul Slag Mines Dungeon – Sun, Jul 12, 2015, 2:34 PM CST_ **

_“Okay, where the hell is he? You told him we start at two, right?”_  
_“I did… he’s probably just having trouble getting a computer at the cafe.”_  
_“Cafe?”_  
_ “Oh, God, is he one of those dorks who drags a whole tower to a Starbucks?”_  
_“Oh, no, he usually logs on from a gaming cafe near his place, and sometimes they can be pretty booked.”_  
_ “Why the fuck would he need to go a cafe? Doesn’t he have a computer at home?”_  
_ “Lance, be nice. You promised.”_  
_ “Yeah, well, he promised he’d be here!”_  
_ “Shiro, I’m sorry, but if he’s not here in five minutes I’m calling in Pidge to run this in his stead.”_  
_ “I understand, princess. I’ll text him now and see what’s the holdup.”_  
_“Do that.”_  
_ “Yeah, I’ve only got an hour until my parents get back from church, so I can’t wait forever.”_  
_ “Exactly! Completely disrespectful! When he gets on here I’m gonna-”_  
_“Lance!”_  
_“Lance, please. That’s my job.”_  
_“Okay, he said he was, uh, warming up… He’s on his way now.”_  
_ “Warming up?!”_  
[xXx_darkwolfboy_xXx has accepted the group invitation.]  
_“Ah! There he is! Shiro, can you get him on the call?”_  
_“I’ll see, but he’s in a public cafe so he probably won’t be able to talk.”_  
_“That’s fine, he can just do a Pidge and listen and type!”_  
[princessplz]: Welcome to the party, Keith! Lovely to meet you :)  
[xXx_darkwolfboy_xXx was summoned.]  
[_HUNK_]: hi keith! shiro’s told us a lot about u, welcome aboard!  
[xXx_darkwolfboy_xXx accepted the summon.]  
_“...Shiro, what the fuck is he doing?”_  
_“Uh, I’m not sure… hang on?”_  
_H: "I think he's lagging. Probably on a slow computer, those cafes never have good bandwidth."_  
[_HUNK_]: hey keith, looks like you're bugged out. Try relogging?  
_“If he turns out to be weirder than Slav I’m out, sorry not sorry Shiro.”_  
[xXx_darkwolfboy_xXx has disconnected.]  
_“I swear if that was the case I wouldn’t even be friends with him and you know that. It’s just his first time playing with anyone besides me or just solo, give him a break.”_  
[xXx_darkwolfboy_xXx has reconnected.]  
_ “I’m just saying! We can barely handle _one _of Slav, I am_ not _letting in a second!”_  
[_HUNK_]: wb  
[_HUNK_]: did that fix it?  
_“Stop being a drama queen, Si. Slav is an equal member of the guild, too!”_  
_ “You’re just saying that because he’s the only one in your time zone!”_  
_“I’m abstaining from this conversation… Hunk, Keith says thanks. Still trying to get him on voice...”_  
_“Shut it, leave Slav alone, both of you!”_  
_“When he leaves me alone, I’ll leave him alone.”_  
_ “Yeah! What Shiro said!”_  
[_HUNK_]: sorry about the delay dark, we’re just talking about nothing… it would help u a lot if you could get on skype!  
_“Enough, both of you, or I’ll kick _both_ of you out and drag Pidge _and Slav _in instead!”_  
[_HUNK_]: they prob have headphones at the front desk if you need them:)  
_“Allura! You monster!”_  
_“She’s right, Lance… for now. Oh, Keith said he can’t get on voice at all. Sorry, everybody.”_  
_“Shouldn’t he have known that before we set this up?”_  
_ “Aaah! Ungrateful!”_  
_“That sucks, but if his connection is this bad with just the game going, he’d be crawling with voice streaming, too…”_  
_ “Stop it with your logic, Hunk, I’m being outraged here!”_  
_“It’s fine, I’ll just tell him the plan myself. So, what is it, princess?”_  
_"Business as usual. Clear trash up to Roltall. I'll mark tank targets. Shiro, would you let Keith know he'll be doing crowd control on the green triangle?"_  
_“Sounds good- uh… Oops?”_  
_ “Fucking- if I ever get my hands on that kid I’ll kill him! I will!”_  
_“Lance! No death threats! That’s my job!”_  
[_HUNK_]: darky, you need to wait for us!!  
_“Oh my God - Pidge is gonna be so pissed that they missed this.”_  
_ “Hunk, get your ass up here and cover this idiot’s ass!”_  
_“Right, on it!”_  
_“I’m so sorry, he’s not used to working as a team-”_  
_“Shiro, not now!”_  
[sirenamor has died.]  
_“¡Comemierda cabron!”_  
_“Hunk, go in, try and rez them before this all just goes to hell! Shiro-”_  
_“Way ahead of you, princess.”_  
_ “I’m going as fast as I can - Keith, slow down!”_  
_ “Lo voy a matar, juro por Dios...”_  
[_HUNK_]: darky if you saty put I’ll rez you!!  
[shiro has died.]  
_“Motherfucking horse shit… Lance, don’t kill him, I need to do it first.”_  
_“Shiro, you’re never allowed to invite members to the guild in again! Ever!”_  
[princesslplz has died.]  
_H: “Please - Keith, just stop-”_  
[_HUNK_ has died.]  
_“Oh, great.”_  
_ “Shiro you better move fast, Mommy’s got a bitch to slap!”_  
[xXx_darkwolfboy_xXx has resurrected _HUNK_.]  
_“...Where on Earth did he get jumper cables?”_  
_“Please don’t ask me, I don’t even know her.”_  
“ _Why?_ Why? _I don’t understand_ anything _of the last five minutes but my bitchslap hand is ready to go!”_  
[_HUNK_ casts mass resurrection.]  
_“Shiro, did you tell him to rez me first?”_  
_“No, I guess he just saw the light.”_  
[_HUNK_]: thanks for the rez darky!  
_ “Shiro, where did you even _find _this guy?”_  
_“Do you want the short story or the long?”_  
[_HUNK_]: if you wait for us to regroup for a sec, we can plan  
[_HUNK_]: also if you type /p then you can type in this chat!  
_“Wait, really?”_  
_ “Hey, we’ve all been new to party play at some point or another-”_  
_ “That’s what she said!”_  
[xXx_darkwolfboy_xXx]: thanks  
_“Oh look! He finally decides to show up!”_  
_“Time for a regroup. Shiro, you ready to go?”_  
_“As I’ll ever be.”_  
_ “From what we got right there, I can tell he’s super fast and knows how to rogue, at least. Can we use that?”_  
_“Possibly…”_  
[princessplz}: darky, can you wait for just a minute for us to put together the gameplan? We’ll tell you when we’re ready and what you need to do.  
[xXx_darkwolfboy_xXx]: sure  
_“Shiro…”_  
_ “He’ll behave, I promise.”_  
[_HUNK_}: dont worry, keith, we got ur back! love your gear btw  
[xXx_darkwolfboy_xXx]: oh. thanks  
_“Okay. So. Clearing trash up to Roltall…”_

* * *

**_Houston, TX – Wed, Nov 21, 2018, 8:48 PM CST_ **

The last few miles through the ratty suburban roads to the address Keith had given Lance were the worst part of the whole trip. Lance was _struggling_ – had been struggling since Louisiana – his hands shaky and head aching, but he was almost _there_ and it _hurt_. One more left turn…

The house was just as Keith had bare-bones described on his last red light Discord check, two stories and yellow-painted brick with an expanded garage almost bigger than the house. Lance pulled into the double wide driveway, turning off his overworked girl with trembling hands, headlights dying. He unbuckled his seat belt on the third try and stumbled out of the car, leaning hard against her side and staring up at the Texas night sky. He was too close to downtown for the light pollution to be too faded, only a handful of stars shining through. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths.

A screen door banged from inside the open garage. He didn’t move, too blown out to care, even as footsteps came around the hood of his car to stop a few feet in front of him.

“You look like shit,” a familiar yet not voice said. Lance clenched his eyes closed against it.

“A truly enlightening observation,” he croaked to the night sky. “Please, regale me with more of your breathtaking wisdom.”

The voice huffed. “Yeah, you’re fine.” Lance let his head flop forward, eyes opening to see Keith for the first time. Chin-length dark hair clung to pale skin just shorter than Lance’s height, an old red flannel rolled to his elbows and his ripped jeans side-lit from the garage. His too-pretty face was flat, but his eyes were smiling as he stuck his hands in his pockets and looked Lance over, then over the car behind him. “Pull her in the garage so I can have a look at her while Kole feeds you,” he said with a jerk of his head inside.

Lance’s legs cramped more just thinking about it. “Keith, my dude, if you make me get back in that thing right now I swear I’ll lose my shit.” Keith snorted, teeth flashing on a grin. Lance pushed off the door, wavering just a little on his feet. “ _You_ do it if your mechanic ass cares so much,” he snapped, throwing his keys at Keith’s chest. “Didn’t know you were so _picky_ ,” he grumbled.

Keith caught them with an easy shrug, ignoring the grumbling. “Sure. Figured I’ll be driving most of tonight, anyway.” He gestured towards the garage. “Come on in for now, Kole made a pot roast.”

Lance followed him into the well-organized garage, totally not checking out the cherry red motorcycle in the corner or the scrubby tuft of Keith’s ponytail. “Who’s Kole?” he asked.

“Landlord. And my boss. And my mom’s old friend.” Lance raised his eyebrows, but Keith just shouldered open the door to the house, calling in, “Kole! Company’s here!”

“A little early, ain’t it?” a low smoker’s rasp replied from inside. Lance closed the door behind him, looking around at the faded orange tile and beat-up wallpaper of a mud room, old boots and gloves thrown around on top of a washer and dryer that were both running. Something good-smelling led Lance further into the house, opening up into a yellow and white kitchen straight from an eighties sitcom – except that the person manning the stove wasn’t a tired housewife with a whipcrack humor, but a big biker-y dude with a long white rattail and week-old scruff. He looked back at their entry, scars criss-crossing his weather-lined face. “Hey.” He put down the spatula. “You must be Lance.”

Lance stared at him, brain stuttering like his poor girl outside. “Uh. Yep, that’s me.”

“I’m gonna go look at the Highlander,” Keith said, breezing past Lance back to the garage, wafting engine grease and something savory over him. “Make sure we won’t break down before we hit El Paso.”

“Wha- hey!” Lance flashed a fist out and just caught Keith’s arm. “Don’t diss my girl like that!” Keith just rolled his eyes and left him in this strange lemon house with a strange biker man, who was digging in a crockpot with some tongs and doling out mashed potatoes at the kitchen counter.

“Don’t worry about Keith,” Kole said, putting a steaming plate down at the kitchen table. “He just likes cars more than people.” Lance took the offered seat, tired eyes watching as Kole fixed himself a plate. “I got water, milk, Diet Coke, and tea,” Kole said to the stove. When he looked back at Lance’s blank stare, he added, “To drink.”

“Oh. Oh!” Lance laughed, scratching through his hair. “Um, milk, please, if you don’t mind.” Kole nodded and went to the fridge, glaring when Lance tried to stand up to help. When Kole sat down across from him with two glasses of milk, Lance picked up his fork and poked at his food. “Um, thanks for dinner. It smells great.” He drank his milk to buy his stomach time to settle. It had been twisting on itself for almost twenty four hours now, and he hadn’t been able to handle more than a snack all day.

Kole grunted and started eating with blue collar speed. “So, how was the drive?” he asked between mouthfuls.

“ _Long_ ,” Lance moaned. Kole chuckled. “Why is this country so _big?_ ”

Kole shrugged. “Manifest destiny, mostly.” Lance stared at him. Kole pointed at Lance’s plate with his fork. “Ain’t ya gonna eat?” Lance nodded and dug in, the first taste of potato making his stomach yawn open. He held in a moan, his scatterbrained focus narrowing to _dinner_.

“ _Si!_ ” Keith called through the house a few quiet minutes later. “ _Si, your phone’s ringing!”_

Lance blinked at his surroundings. Wasn’t the biker’s name Kole? Oh, _wait_ -

“Grab it!” he yelled back, shoving to his feet as fast as his worn-out legs would let him. “It’s probably my mom!” Kole watched from his seat as Lance ran out to the garage, almost tripping over a boot in the mud room. He burst through the screen door, almost running into the side of his girl and her popped hood.

Keith leant to the side from the driver’s door to look at him under the raised hood, phone to his ear. “Yes, ma’am, he’s right here,” he said, staring Lance down over machinery. “Would you like to talk to him?”

Lance shoved his toes into an inset in the hubcap so he could lean over the bared engine and stuff, holding the sharp edge of the hood for balance as he thrust his other hand in Keith’s face. Keith raised an eyebrow, eyes flicking over his stretch across the whole ass car, then held out the phone. “You were right,” he said as Lance took it and hopped back to solid ground.

“Mami?” Lance asked, spinning to lean against the passenger door.

" _Y que tan rapido manejaste?_ " she snapped at him. He winced.

"No… no _tan_ rapido,” he mumbled. She sighed, and he clutched his sweatshirt over his chest.

“ _Tal vez ahora que no estás solo estarás más seguro,_ ” she said, and he was _very_ glad he had never told her about Keith’s dumb reckless actions, both in real life and online. “ _¿Ese era tu amigo Keith, verdad?_ ”

He nodded at the ordered row of socket wrenches hanging on the wall in front of him. “Sí, llegué hace unos minutos. Te iba a llamar en un momento, pero estaba comiendo primero.”

_“ ¿Ah, te están alimentando? Bien, bien.”_

“¡Si, y no habia terminado!” She laughed. He pushed off the car with a wave at Keith, who was elbow deep in his girl’s guts again – wasn’t it hot in there? Oh well, Keith was the picky mechanic, not him.

His mom updated him on the day without him around as he sat back down at the kitchen table, Kole just finishing up. Apparently his abuela’s flight had been late, and his sister had gotten in a fight with her boyfriend and hidden at the neighbor’s house, and there was a general scramble to make the house able to house all twelve extra family members for the holiday and its normal chaotic disaster. Lance’s bed was already claimed by his two least favorite cousins, and he had some choice words to say about _that_. He ranted through his mom’s laughter, even as his ribs squeezed tight and the food got heavy in his mouth.

Eventually, she caught up with herself and sighed. “ _¿Pues, como estas, mijo?_ ”

He smiled at his empty plate. “Cansado.” She hummed. “Pero estoy vivo.”

“ _Eso es un minimo, mijo._ ” He huffed on a weak laugh. _“ ¿No vas a manejar toda la noche, verdad?”_ she asked with the edge of a threat. He stabbed his last baby carrot with his fork.

“Mas ó menos. Keith va a manejar. Ahora está revisando el carro, y luego vamos a salir.”

He could hear her temple rub through the phone. “Por _favor, mijo, cuidate._ ”

“Voy a dormir en el carro, prometo.” He yawned loudly to punctuate it. Kole took his empty plate with a nod, dumping it on the pile in the sink. Lance swished a thought around. “¿Te sentirías mejor si hablas… pues, creo que es el tío de Keith?”

“ _Crees?”_

“Me alimentó, Mami.”

She huffed. “ _Ay, bueno._ ”

He gave a little wave to Kole, who paused with his hand on the faucet. “Would you mind talking to my mom for a bit?” he asked, hand over the mic. “It’ll go a long way to making her feel better.”

Kole raised a scarred eyebrow _exactly_ like Keith just did in the garage, but took the phone, tucking against his shoulder as he turned back to the dishes in the sink. “Evenin’, ma’am. What can I do for ya?”

Lance stood and stretched as his mom started in on twenty questions, Kole taking it like a customer service champ. There was something like a living room visible through the other kitchen door, only lit by the streetlight outside the front window and filled with a lot of old, squashy furniture. Maybe they wouldn’t mind if he laid down on the couch… just for a second…

He slipped out of the kitchen, leaving Kole to deal with his mom, kicking off his shoes on the way. Just for a _second_ , he told himself.

* * *

**_iMessages – Wed, Nov 21, 2018, 8:55 PM CST_ **

From: Keith K  
Lance is here.  
Wed, Nov 21, 8:55 PM

From: Shiro  
That was fast. How is he?  
Wed, Nov 21, 8:56 PM

From: Keith K  
Like he ran here from miami instead of drove. Kole’s feeding him now.  
Wed, Nov 21, 8:56 PM

From: Keith K  
He’s taller than I thought  
Wed, Nov 21, 8:56 PM

From: Shiro  
Haha. Be nice, okay?  
Wed, Nov 21, 8:57 PM

From: Keith K  
Yeah yeah. I’m checking over his car and packing it while he eats and tells his mom he’s alive.  
Wed, Nov 21, 8:58 PM

From: Keith K  
Nobody makes em quite like toyota  
Wed, Nov 21, 9:01 PM

From: Shiro  
You would have a heart attack in pidge’s car. And w their driving…  
Wed, Nov 21, 9:03 PM

From: Keith K  
Pass.  
Wed, Nov 21, 9:07 PM

From: Keith K  
How far along are y’all?  
Wed, Nov 21, 9:08 PM

From: Shiro  
Almost to wyoming… Nebraska is the most boring part of the world in the world. Worse than afghanistan  
Wed, Nov 21, 9:11 PM

From: Shiro  
Were gonna stop somewhere for the night once we get past cheyenne.  
Wed, Nov 21, 9:12 PM

From: Keith K  
Weak. Once lance stops shaking were heading out.  
Wed, Nov 21, 9:13 PM

From: Shiro  
Please tell me youre not planning on marathoning the whole way.  
Wed, Nov 21, 9:15 PM

From: Keith K  
I didn’t buy pillows at walmart for noting  
Wed, Nov 21, 9:18 PM

From: Shiro  
Keith.  
Wed, Nov 21, 9:18 PM

From: Keith K  
Google says it’ll take us the same amt of time to get there from here as yalls trip so shut up  
Wed, Nov 21, 9:19 PM

From: Keith K  
Also lance needs to have time to get back to class afterwards. And pidge.  
Wed, Nov 21, 9:19 PM

From: Shiro  
What am I, chopped liver?  
  
And what about you?  
Wed, Nov 21, 9:20 PM

From: Keith K  
Just transfer yourself out to a cali base or smth. I’m staying out there.  
Wed, Nov 21, 9:21 PM

From: Shiro  
Youre doing what now?  
Wed, Nov 21, 9:22 PM

From: Keith K  
He’s gonna need help to get on his own feet. Hes never lived on his own or had a job or anything. I’m the only one of us who can help w that.  
Wed, Nov 21, 9:22 PM

From: Shiro  
What do you plan to do, sit outside his room every night and chaperone him to his finals?  
Wed, Nov 21, 9:23 PM

From: Keith K  
If that’s what it takes.  
Wed, Nov 21, 9:24 PM

From: Shiro  
Pidge thinks youre absolutely nuts. I’m not repeating what her bro said but it was foul.  
Wed, Nov 21, 9:27 PM

From: Keith K  
I packed my sword itll be fine.  
Wed, Nov 21, 9:29 PM

From: Shiro  
KEITH  
Wed, Nov 21, 9:29 PM

From: Keith K  
Grabbing lance and getting on the road. We’ll let yall know when we stop next.  
Wed, Nov 21, 9:32 PM

From: Shiro  
PUT THE SWORD BACK KEITH  
Wed, Nov 21, 9:33 PM

From: Keith K  
Get off my dick mom  
Wed, Nov 21, 9:35 PM

* * *

**_Houston, TX – Wed, Nov 21, 2018, 9:40 PM CST_ **

Keith wiped his hands on a random garage rag as he walked back in the kitchen. “Car’s fine,” he told Kole. “Changed the oil, just in case, but she’s ready to roll.” Kole glanced up from his reading at the kitchen table and nodded. Keith looked around. “Where’s Lance?”

Kole gestured towards the den. “Fell asleep while I talked to his mother,” he said quietly. “Nice lady. Good kid.”

Keith groaned, running a hand down his face. “You’re gonna make me wake him up, huh.”

Kole turned a page. “He’s your friend.” Keith shot him a look, then marched past the table into the den. If _he_ didn’t get to sleep tonight…

He paused, socks digging into the carpet. Lance had curled himself up on the red loveseat, the most comfortable piece of furniture in the house, older than Keith with the stains to prove it. His long legs (how did a human have that much _leg_ ) hung off the edge, shoes at the side and mismatched socks locked at the ankle. He hugged a throw pillow that a former guest had left behind like a teddy bear, mouth open and brow furrowed, limp hair sticking to his forehead. Keith sighed and sat down on the corner of the coffee table in front of Lance, watching his sleeping face for a few deep breaths. Lance’s face twitched, eyebrows drawing together, breath hitching. Nightmare. Not really surprising, considering the day they had all had. Keith had taken it easy at work that morning so he would have some energy to drive that night, but stress was a wearing factor on anyone. It didn’t look good on Lance, for sure.

The hitched breathing caught. Lance’s eyes blinked open, red and unfocused. He let out a deep groan, rubbing his face into scratchy embroidery. Keith knew from a lot of couch naps how shitty that pillow was for comfort, the pattern always etched into his cheek no matter what.

Lance’s bleary attention snagged on him. “Dude,” he whined, voice sleep-raw, “What’re you _doing?_ ”

Keith pressed his palms together between his knees. “You were having a nightmare.”

“ _Yeah_ , I _know_.” Lance unfolded himself, stretching in a long line, all arms and legs straight up and down, yawning big enough for Keith to see all his teeth. “Were you watching me sleep?” he asked through the tail of his yawn.

Keith shrugged. “Just for a sec.” Lance raised a thin eyebrow. “What?”

“You’re so weird,” Lance muttered, wincing as he pried himself out of the armchair and stretched more when on his feet. “So, time to make like the Autobots and roll out?” he asked.

Keith snorted, rolling his eyes. “Yeah, your girl’s all set. I packed my stuff already. Just gotta tell Kole bye and do a last check, make sure I got everything.”

“Cool.” He rolled his head around, massaging his neck. “Where’s the bathroom?”

Keith jerked a thumb down the hall behind him. “Middle door on the right.” Lance kept on stretching as he followed Keith’s directions, yawning again. Keith watched his legs go – jerked himself out of it. Maybe he _was_ kind of tired.

He jumped to his feet and marched back to the kitchen, where Kole was pouring fresh coffee into a travel mug with the shop’s logo printed on it. “Don’t push yourself too hard,” he told Keith, looking down at the mug as he spun the lid on. “You’re not on the insurance, and it’ll be a pain the ass to go to Arizona to bail you out.” Keith stood there in the yellow kitchen, the hammer of the unsaid ‘ _but I will_ ’ pounding him into the linoleum. Kole set the travel mug on the table by his book, watching Keith with steady eyes. “Y’all ready?”

Keith swallowed. “Yeah, we’re fixin’ to head out.” He stared at the travel mug and the steam curling out of the open mouthpiece. “Um. Thanks, for letting me stay here. And stuff.”

Kole didn’t quite smile, eyes crinkling. “Sure thing, kid.” He picked up his book from the table, tucking it under his arm. “You should probably call your mom when you’re on the road, before I have to tell her to her face next time she rolls around why her son moved to California on a whim.”

Keith winced. “Shit, you’re right.” Kole chuckled, breathy and low. Keith bit his lip, and before he could second-guess himself, he dove in to squeeze Kole in a tight hug, cheek pressed against his sleep shirt and eyes clenched shut.

“Whoa there,” Kole said, rumbling through Keith. “You sure you’re okay to drive, kid?”

Keith jumped back as quick as he had attacked, snatching up his coffee mug. “M’fine,” he grumbled into it. “See you later.”

“Safe drive.” Keith nodded and ducked out to the garage without looking at Kole again, crawling into the driver’s seat and fiddling with its position, shoving down – whatever _that_ was. Ugh, why were Lance’s legs so _long?_

It only took a minute or so for the passenger door to open and Lance to hop in, rubbing his arms against the night chill. “God, am I glad _I’m_ not driving,” he moaned, plugging in his phone to the headphone jack cord dangling from the cassette player and the charger cord from the adapter. When Keith didn’t start the car, though, Lance paused and looked at him for real, blue eyes shining in the shadows cast by the overhead garage light. “Yo, uh, darky? You all right in there?”

Keith cleared his throat, starting the car and blasting hot air in their faces. “M’fine. Let’s just go already.”

“You sure? If you’re too tired, we can sleep here for a few hours-”

“ _I said I’m fine!_ ” Lance jerked back, shiny eyes wide and still red. Keith sighed and banged his forehead into the steering wheel, the leather’s texture worn smooth by fifteen years’ worth of hands. “Look, just – you can go back to sleep, if you want,” he told the dials of the dashboard in front of him. “I’ll be fine.”

Lance watched him as he sat up straight and threw the SUV in reverse, backing out of the garage, only allowing himself one last longing look at his bike as they rolled away. Kole would shut the door behind them. “You know,” Lance said as Kole’s house faded into just another house in the rearview, “I can stay awake for a while. Keep you company, teach you how the radio works and stuff.”

“I know how a car radio works,” Keith snarled, spinning the tuner knob to demonstrate. Wait, why did it just scan in the _opposite_ direction of the dial from the way he turned? Lance huffed, not quite energetic enough for a laugh, and took over, explaining his girl’s finicky ways in a long babbly stream that didn’t require Keith to contribute or care. Lance’s voice, the normally static and shrill edge dulled by the night and not having a microphone filter, and the soft Spanish pop radio that Lance settled on eased Keith back into himself. With each red light, he relaxed in the warm seat, whatever emotion that had affected him in the kitchen bleeding out. By the time Lance had, inevitably, fallen asleep again, they were on the highway and heading west, and Keith felt like himself again. He glanced at Lance – he had forgotten to tell him about the pillows in the back, so he had his cheek pressed to the tension of his seatbelt, mouth a little open and hood pulled down over his furrowed forehead. Keith clenched the steering wheel and stared back at the dark highway. They had miles to go before he could sleep and all that shit. He better get going.

* * *

**_Auburn, CA – Wed, Nov 21, 2018, 7:52 PM PST_ **

“Oh my! Are you still in here?”

Hunk jumped out of his beanbag doze, the open book on his chest sliding off with a painful crack of the spine. He blinked away the fog of his nap and stared up at the librarian who had found his hiding spot, her arms full of books and face pinched and a little angry behind them. He winced, picking the fallen book up and checking the pages. “I’m so sorry, ma’am,” he mumbled as he fiddled with the dust jacket. “Guess I fell asleep.”

“You guess?” She sat the book stack down on the table by the beanbags, pushing aside Legos and crayons. “The library closed an hour ago,” she told him in a tough but fair tone. “Shouldn’t you be going home?”

He pulled his knees in a little, the squashy beanbag sucking him in. “Well, uh, y’see…”

The lines of her skinny face shifted topography. She knelt next to him, her classic librarian bun and demeanor a stark contrast to the soft look and warm hand she rested on him. “Are you able to go home?” she asked, only a little pity in it. He swallowed on his dry throat.

“Not – not really,” he admitted in a quiet voice. Oh God, he _couldn’t_ go home. He struggled to sit up right, but the beanbag had him in good and wasn’t giving him any leverage. She kept her hand on his elbow to steady him, but didn’t touch him beyond that. When he could perch on the compressed edge of the beanbag, he took off his borrowed hat and rubbed his face on his sweatshirt. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’ll leave now.”

“Nonsense.” She fixed him with a green stare. “Do you have anywhere to go? Anyone to call?” When he only stared back at her, eyes welling up and negative response trembling on his tongue, she _hmph_ ed and slapped her knees, standing up with cracking joints. “I need to finish reshelving this cart,” she said, gesturing back to the half-full book cart at the end of the children’s section. “Then, if you’d like, I’ll take you to a place that can help.”

His chest seized. “Not… not the police, right?”

She shot him a look, the books in her hand frozen halfway to their shelves. “You’re not in _that_ kind of trouble, are you?”

“No! No, uh, not really.” He looked away from her sharp face to the bright colors of the picture books at his eye level. “I just… I can’t.”

“Hmm.” She went back to shelving, puckered mouth pressed thin. “Well, to answer your question, no, it’s not any kind of law enforcement area, just a church that has a few spare rooms. They and I have a bit of an understanding, so they’ll do their best to get you fed and a bed tonight.” She finished putting away her first stack of books and gathered another armful from her cart. “Unless you would _like_ to leave now,” she told the books. “I won’t stop you.”

Hunk stared at his sneakers. Lunch felt like days ago, the warmth of Shay’s family’s apartment a distant gold memory. He didn’t get the feeling that she would let him spend the night in the library, and they would be closed the next day, anyway, the crayon hand turkeys hanging from the ceiling on strings and paperclips not letting him forget about the holiday. He sighed, pressing his face into his knees. He just wanted things to be _normal_ again, dammit. He wanted to sleep in his bed and text Lance about night until one in the morning and yell about homework with Pidge or Keith and keep his dad from yelling at his mom as much as he could.

He bit his tongue, digging his fingers into his jeans. He didn’t _have_ a normal anymore. He needed help to find out what ‘normal’ was supposed to mean.

He sucked in a breath, swinging back up and blinking against the fluorescents. The librarian glanced at him, still restocking her way down the aisle. “Well?”

He stood, holding onto the shelves for balance, world spinning a little. “If… if you wouldn’t mind,” he said, gripping a shelf ledge. “I’d appreciate being fed and a bed.”

She smiled, wrinkle map changing again. “Not a problem at all.” She went back to her cart for more books, and his manners kicked back in. He joined her and took a stack, bringing it back to the Lego table for easier access. She nodded at him. “Thank you, sir.”

He smiled at her. “Just paying in advance.” She laughed, a woodsy thing, and got back to work.

“Well, let’s get hopping, then,” she said. “The sooner we finish, the sooner we can see what they’re serving for dinner.”

“Sure!” He took two books, trying to decipher their spine labels to sort them correctly. “Thank you, again.”

She waved a hand. “Think nothing of it.” She hummed. “What’s your name, if you’re comfortable telling me?”

He slid his first book into what he hoped was the correct spot. “It’s – Hunk, ma’am,” he squeezed out.

She hummed again. “All right. Hunk. Stop calling me ma’am, it’s Ryner.”

He laughed, shoulders easing. “Okay, will do, ma’am.” She whapped at him with a book, and he laughed again, dancing away.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> {A/N: I'm actually really far ahead in this fic in my rough draft, and without the constant IRL things holding me back from typing/posting I've had the last few weeks it's hard to stay that way. Let's see how long my will holds out. [tumblr](http://carriecmoney.tumblr/com) [twitter](http://www.twitter.com/carriecmoney)}

**_World of Warcraft – Blackrock Foundry – Sat, Oct 10, 2015, 3:48 PM CST_ **

_“Okay, thanks everyone for turning out, it looks like everyone got what they needed. See everyone next week!”_  
[penNYMAngoes has disconnected.]  
_“Actually, I will not be able to accommodate the next-”_  
_“Sure, princess, I’ll be around.”_  
_“Sounds good, signing off.”_  
[REMDAXTGREAT has disconnected.]  
[rolovernout has disconnected.]  
[SirVakala271 has disconnected.]  
_“As I was saying, I will be further occupied throughout the next week, so-”_  
_“Thanks for the game, everyone!”_  
[VoltronCoalition][PiGForce]: solid B+ performance lads  
_“I’ll be free! Thanks for hosting, princess.”_  
_“Of course, Plax! And Slav, it’s fine, we understand that not everyone can make every raid.”_  
[plaxmermaid has disconnected.]  
_“Oh, fine, fine! See who innervates anyone without me around! Good day sirs!”_  
[626Bohr_SLAV has disconnected.]  
_“Mm. Sure.”_  
_“You played very well today, Shiro!”_  
_“Yes, quite excellent! Those modifications are going well, are they not?”_  
_”Haha, thanks guys. Yeah, Coran, this new mouse is perfect, I really appreciate the rec.”_  
_“Oh, it was no trouble at all! Always happy to improve the team by improving the individual!”_  
[VoltronCoalition][PiGForce]: what new mouse? you need ergo help or something?  
_“Haha, something like that. Coran’s been around the block with special hardware, so-”_  
_“That better not be you calling me old, bucko!”_  
_"Bucko?”_  
_"No, no, just deferring to your superior experience, that’s all.”_  
[VoltronCoalition][PiGForce]: idk you’re all old to me  
_“Lies and slander! I’ll meet you in court for that!”_  
_"Coran, please don’t harass the minors.”_  
[VoltronCoalition][PiGForce]: lmao I can see the headlines now: Old Fart Sues Iowa Teen For Libel In International Court, Gets ASS KICKED  
_“How_ dare you disrespect your elders!”  
[VoltronCoalition][PiGForce]: so you ADMIT IT!  
_“Aah!”_  
_“Well, this has been fun, but I gotta drop. Good game today, everyone.”_  
_“Of course. Have a lovely evening!"_  
[VoltronCoalition][PiGForce]: night shiro  
_“Actually, if you don’t mind, Shiro, I had an item or two I wanted to bend your ear about…”_  
_“Oh? Sure, no problem. Just skype me sometime later, okay?”_  
_“Will do! Au revoir, my good man!”_  
[VoltronCoalition][PiGForce]: what item or two?  
[shiro has disconnected.]  
_“That’s for me to know and you to find out, number five!”_  
[VoltronCoalition][PiGForce]: YOU BITCH!!  
_“You two are some of the worst children I’ve ever had to deal with, honestly.”_

* * *

 

**_Laramie, WY – Wed, Nov 21, 2018, 10:46 PM MST_ **

“Oh, sweet mercy, real beds!” Pidge fell back on the fluffy comforter, starched white billowing around her. She closed her eyes, melting back into it with a groan, arms flung wide and feet dangling off the edge.

Matt lifted her legs and used them as a handle to spin her so she was full on the bed, then collapsed next to her, immediately hidden in duvet except for his boots. “Wake me up never,” he groaned into a pillow.

Shiro laughed across the room. Pidge cracked an eye to glare at him, but he just shook his head and smiled at them as he shed his outer layer. “The Guard’s made you soft,” he told Matt as he draped his coat over the weird armchair this weird local hotel had shoved in the corner of their room. He kicked off his shoes, peeling off the rest of his outerwear until he was just in shirt and jeans. “You’re so out of shape you can’t even deal with _one_ all day ride?”

Matt said something tired and sarcastic, but Pidge had stopped paying attention as soon as she could see Shiro’s arm beyond his hand. His hook. His _prosthetic arm_.

“Dude.” Shiro paused whatever banter he and Matt were exchanging, hand on his shirt buttons. Pidge pushed herself up on her elbows, fixed on the metal and bared tension cables of his forearm. “You really don’t have an arm,” she breathed.

Shiro clammed up, hand falling from his half-buttoned shirt, something cold trickling down Pidge’s tired spine. “Yeah. I don’t.” He glanced over at Matt and glared as much as his doe eyes could muster. “Oh, not you, too!”

Matt sputtered, and Pidge rolled to her feet, hopping over to sit on the desk by Shiro, letting the cold trickle down and away. “I just – I’ve never seen a real ass prosthetic arm up close before,” she said, reaching out to trace over it with her fingertips. She yanked her stupid hand back, looking up at his wide-open face. “Sorry,” she mumbled. “I don’t want to make it weird.”

Shiro snorted. “I think we already passed that with your hundred questions in the car earlier.” He put on a long-suffering look, smile leaking through as he continued his earlier process of stripping, shrugging off his shirt so he was just in his undershirt and harness for his prosthetic. “I know how you STEM nerds are,” he said with a sigh that would put Lance’s drama queen ass to shame. “Go ahead, figure it out.” He sat backwards in the desk chair, turning his back to Pidge on her perch. “I know you won’t rest until you do, and I’m too wound up to sleep just yet, anyway.”

Pidge glanced at Matt over Shiro’s shoulder. He was still sprawled out on the bed, owl eyes fixed on where Shiro’s body turned to plastic. She set her jaw and scowled down at the straps over Shiro’s undershirt. “Okay.” She huffed, running the pads of her fingers over the thick woven straps to where the tension cables rooted. “So you said it works with body movements, yeah?”

“Yep.” He lifted his shoulder in a shrug, elbow bending with it. “It’s actually really easy, once you get used to it.”

“Hmm.” She tugged on a string on his back, watching it pull on his wrist resting on his leg. “Huh.”

Shiro chuckled. “You trying to be the rat to my chef?” he asked, glancing at her over his shoulder. She grinned at him, adjusting her seat on the desk so she could plant her feet on either side of his on the chair, bracing his half-turned torso between her knees.

Matt yawned loudly, stretching as he stood. “Imma shower while you nerds nerd out,” he said, popping his back with a gross crack. “I better not come out here to find it all torn apart on _my_ side of the bed,” he pouted, glaring at Pidge with the two fingered _‘I’m watching you’_ gesture. She stuck out her tongue at him, rolling Shiro backwards with her feet. He yelped, clutching the chair back for balance as he slotted in between her knees – good gravy, his shoulders _were_ broad. She couldn’t wait to tell Lance _that_. Matt squeezed past them, grabbing his gear bag as he went.

Pidge relaxed her leg hold on Shiro, hands resting on his shoulders. Exhaustion, and a little bit of daring, made her rest her chin on the top of Shiro’s head, just the right height for it as she draped her arms over his shoulders. For how white his hair was, it was bristly and tickly, like grass right on the edge of winter.

“Y’know, of all the things I thought you’d be, ‘touchy’ wasn’t one of them,” he commented. She huffed, and he laughed, leaning back a little against the desk, hand resting on her ankle by his hip. “Tired?”

“Mmm.” She squeezed his neck, almost a hug. “M’sorry Matt’n I are being weird ‘bout your arm,” she mumbled into his dead-grass hair. “We’ll get used to it, I promise.”

His grip tightened. “It’s… it’s a pretty standard reaction. I’m used to questions and stuff, so it’s fine.”

She hummed, fingers idly working under one of the straps to play under it, sliding side to side. He sighed, relaxing into it. “Tomorrow,” she promised, “we’ll let _you_ tell _us_ how to handle it best.”

They were quiet for a minute, just the sound of Matt’s shower and the old radiator breaking up the Wyoming night. “Thank you, Pidge,” he said at last, then huffed on a laugh. “Do you want me to keep calling you Pidge, by the way? I don’t mind switching to Katie.”

Her eyes popped open, something strange but not unfamiliar slithering down her spine. She swallowed, pressing her cheek to the crown of his head. “Pidge is fine,” she whispered. He shrugged.

“Whatever you prefer.” He tapped her ankle. “Now, if you let me go, you can see something _really_ cool. I’ve been wearing my arm too long today, and it’s getting really itchy.”

She bounced back, shoving him out of her hold hard enough that his chair rolled into one of the beds. “Do it! Take it off!” She whistled with a wink.

He laughed, standing up. She held onto the edge of the desk between her knees, eyes peeled as he shrugged off the loop around his left shoulder, the whole thing sliding off the stump of his arm. Her eyes caught on that a little, the silk sock covering it stained from use to where it cut off where his bicep was supposed to start – but she yanked her attention away as Shiro held out the arm with a big smile. “Go ahead,” he told her. “Have a nerd field day.”

She took it, the weight making her dip a little. “You mean it?” she asked, voice breathy.

He nodded, still only shrugging with his left shoulder. “Just don’t try to tear it apart,” he said. “My tech would fly up here just to flail you.”

She hugged it close, biting back a grin. “You got it, chief.” He laughed as she spun off the desk to lay it out on the old-fashioned writing pad, pulling up the desk chair with her foot to sit and bend in closer, world fading around everything but her and this new tech. Best evening project _ever_.

* * *

**_Discord – Voltron Coalition – #lions-den 🔒 – Thu, Dec 7, 2017, 3:47 PM PST_ **

**HUNK** _Today at 3:47 PM_  
_@Captain_ guess what time it is? It’s holiday snack package time!  
🎊🎄🎅🎁 🎊  
DM me your address to get some classic treats from me and Mom delivered to your door! ✨

 **sirenamor** _Today at 3:49 PM  
_ [treat yoself voice] it’s the best day of the year!

 **PiGForce** _Today at 3:50 PM  
The best day of the year!_

 **sirenamor** _Today at 3:50 PM  
_ Yuuussss, can’t wait for the Good Goods, lay em on ME

 **shiro** _Today at 3:53 PM_ **  
** Oh thank god, I was hoping I wouldn’t have to ask :P

 **princessplz** _Today at 3:55 PM_  
Ah! Thank you, hunk :) The cookies you sent last year were amazing!  
I’m still at my same address, btw, but I can send it again if you need!

 **HUNK** _Today at 3:56 PM_  
Please and thanku, just to make sure I’ve still got it right! And that goes for everyone, too  
Except lance, I gotchu babe

 **sirenamor** _Today at 3:56 PM  
_ 😽

 **shiro** _Today at 3:58 PM  
_ Yeha I’ve moved, I’ll dm you right now!

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 4:02 PM  
_ Okay what the fuck are yall on about now

 **sirenamor** _Today at 4:02 PM  
_ :OOOO seriously??

 **PiGForce** _Today at 4:04 PM  
_ Ooh yeah, you weren’t a captain last xmas huh?

 **HUNK** _Today at 4:05 PM_  
np dark! Every year my mom and I go ham on baking for the holidays, so I put all of the extras together for care packages for you guys :)  
it would be a little too much to do it for the whole guild, so I keep it to the captains  
since this’ll be your first time (which I forgot about, too), lmk any allergies/preferences with your address!

 **sirenamor** _Today at 4:11 PM  
_ It’ll be the best mail you’ve ever got in your LIFE

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 4:15 PM  
_ Hmmmk…

 **sirenamor** _Today at 4:16 PM  
_ How DARE you throw shade on my babe like that!!

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 4:17 PM  
_ I’m not!

 **princessplz** _Today at 4:19 PM  
_ Boys, behave…

````  
**_Discord – Direct Message @darkwolfboy @HUNK – Thu, Dec 7, 2017, 4:20 PM PST_**

 **HUNK** _Today at 4:20 PM  
_ Hey! It’s totally cool if you don’t want anything, don’t listen to lance :)

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 4:23 PM_  
It’s not that  
I just… don’t have a great address to send it to rn

 **HUNK** _Today at 4:24 PM_  
Aaah  
New place not working out still?

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 4:25 PM  
_ Is it legal to hit your landlord w an axe

 **HUNK** _Today at 4:25 PM  
_ Literally a book called crime and punishment about that

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 4:26 PM_  
Damn  
But yeah, if I got a box from cali rn I couldn’t guarantee I’d ever see it  
Sorry… sounds like everyone really likes them

 **HUNK** _Today at 4:29 PM_  
It’s no problem at all! I get it, I promise  
My dad’s messed with some of Lance’s surprise mail before, I’ve been there  
If you’ve got a friend’s house or smth that would be a good alternate place to send it to, lmk!

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 4:38 PM_  
Okay. Thanks hunk  
Also fuck your dad

 **HUNK** _Today at 4:45 PM_  
:/  
Also don’t tell lance about his mail he doesn’t know

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 4:46 PM_  
I won’t  
But man FUCK your dad

 **HUNK** _Today at 4:48 PM  
_ ://////

* * *

**_I-10 W, MM 508, TX – Thu, Nov 22, 2018, 1:31 AM CST_ **

“Hey. Wake up already.”

Lance floundered out of his deep car nap, stretching the curled-up tightness out of his core with a big yawn. The car was quiet now, engine and soft staticy radio turned off. He squinted in the glow of the bright yellow lights outside, rubbing at his eyes. “Where are we?” he asked through the sleep clinging to him.

“Just past San Antonio.” He blinked over at the voice – _Keith’s_ voice. Ugh, why did the higher powers make him a good gamer _and_ hot?

Keith ignored his empty stare, opening the car door and hopping out, the cold gust slapping Lance awake better than any caffeine. Lance tumbled out himself, stretching a little more as the world took form around him. Keith had pulled off at a random highway exit that looked like America, a few gas stations and a McDonald’s across the four-lane highway from their parking lot. Lance turned to Keith’s choice of stop and snorted hard enough to hurt his throat. “ _Seriously?_ ”

Keith paused halfway to the door, hands in his jeans pockets and looking like flyaway hell, backlit with warm tones and face cast in shadows. “You got a problem with Waffle House?”

Lance shook his head, taking big steps to catch up and stretch his hamstrings a little. “Nah, just didn’t know you were this… Texas.”

Keith rolled his eyes as he held the door for Lance. “Waffle House is more of a Georgia stereotype, don’t be a dick.” Lance laughed as he held the other door for Keith, leaning on it for a hot second as Keith passed inside and gave him a side-eye on the way. “You ever even been here before?” he asked.

Lance shrugged, waving at the dawdling employees behind the counter. They were the only customers in here at this time of night, so Keith slid into the first booth they got to, Lance joining him across the table. Keith tucked some hair behind his ear as he looked down at the sticky menu. “Once or twice, when my friends took me,” Lance answered. Keith blinked at him, looking just as empty as Lance felt. Good. He wasn’t immortal or unfailing. Lance could use that.

“Hey there, dears,” the waitress said, pulling them out of their staring contest as she laid down their napkins and silverware. “What can I get ya?”

They both ordered, Keith rattling off a practiced spiel, Lance stumbling a bit on the lingo, but no one had the energy to give him shit for it. When she left to get their drinks, Lance fiddled with the peeling lamination of his menu, looking over his road trip partner with the first good light and focused attention of the night. He was shorter than Lance expected, but all compact muscle, like a pitbull. The hair elastic in his stubby ponytail was only technically holding on, more strings than anything as it clung to his face and neck. All of the skin Lance could see was slashed with burn scars, from fresh pink to old rose, the most dramatic one cutting up his right cheek from his jaw. His face wasn’t _quite_ Asian, dark eyes narrowed – ah, shit. Lance gulped.

“You’re not what I expected,” they said in unison. Keith’s suspicious stare widened with a blink; Lance laughed, falling forward to knock his face into the table. Keith chuffed above him.

Lance propped his chin on the table so he could grin up at Keith. “What’d you expect from me, then?” he asked. Keith shrugged.

“Someone shorter.” Lance barked a laugh, and Keith almost smiled. “And maybe a little more annoying.”

“Excuse you, I’m _never_ annoying.” Keith rolled his eyes. Lance plopped his cheek in his hand, still half laying out over the table. “I thought you’d be white,” his tired mind admitted.

Keith gasped, a short little intake of breath. “You take that back, mister.” Lance snickered into his hand; Keith kicked him under the table. “Jerk.”

Lance kicked him back. “You just always had that white boy rage flair about you, I can’t help it.”

The waitress came back with his juice and Keith’s vanilla Coke, setting them down on the table between them. Lance sat up straight again; Keith thanked her with that Southern courtesy that someone had to have drilled into him before she walked back to the grill to chat with her coworker. As Lance watched, Keith downed half of his glass in one go, throat working and eyes closed against Lance’s open-mouthed stare. When he came up for air, he said, “Well, I guess you’re not _totally_ wrong.” Lance closed his mouth and waited, swirling his straw in his juice idly. Keith stared at the table as he continued, “My mom’s Korean, but my dad was white. She was never around a whole lot, so he raised me until…” He shrugged. “Never really had a big connection with the homeworld, I guess.”

“Hey.” Keith looked up, his weird dark eyes shiny in the halogens. Lance reached across the table to rest his hand on Keith’s bare wrist, forcing himself to be serious. “It’s okay. You’re valid.”

Keith kicked him _hard_ , face twisting against a laugh. “Shut up.” Lance grinned, sipping on his orange juice. Keith narrowed his eyes, leaning in a bit. “Okay, since we’re asking inappropriate race questions, riddle me this.” He poked Lance in the middle of the forehead, pushing him back a little with it. “Where the _hell_ did your eyes come from?”

Lance snorted, batting away his hand. “Recessive genes, a Scottish great-grandfather, and dumb blind luck. Next.”

They kept up their twenty questions until it was just a conversation, Keith unraveling with every story and waffle bite. Lance’s couch and car naps had made him feel a little better, but the tremors of too much too fast were still lurking in his fingers. The food helped, though, even if his eggs were greasier than he was used to. It was just what he needed in that moment.

They finished up before too long, alternating through paying for themselves at the register while Keith kept on with his story about someone who tried to talk to him in Chinese at the shop a while back. No one else had come in while they ate, so the employees went back to cleaning and goofing off as Lance and Keith went back out to the parking lot and Lance's baby parked in the back corner.

Instead of going to the front of the car, though, Keith hauled open the trunk, sitting on the bumper and tugging off his boots. Lance stopped in front of him, hunched against the cold wind. “The hell you doin’, darky?” he asked. Keith looked up, the one street light in the parking lot only lighting up the left side of his face.

“Well, I’m in no shape to drive right now,” Keith drawled as he pulled off his other boot and yanked what was left of his ponytail out of its holder, dirty hair poofing out. “And you’d be lyin’ through your teeth to say you could get back on the road just yet.” He tossed his boots over his shoulder so they banged into the driver’s seat – when had he folded down the back seats? He scooted back, pulling out some blankets from a cardboard box and snapping them out across the barely-person sized bed the trunk and folded-down seats made, following them up with some striped case-less pillows. “We’ll crash here for a few hours, then get gas and head on,” he said, smoothing down the blankets. When Lance didn’t move, he glanced back, eyebrows raised. “You got a problem with that?”

Lance frowned. “Shouldn’t we… keep moving?” He swallowed, gripping his hands together in the pocket of his sweatshirt. “Hunk _needs_ us.”

Keith sighed, sitting cross-legged a foot or so from the bumper. “Look, just get in, you’re letting the cold in.” Lance set his jaw, but obeyed, crawling in enough for Keith to close the trunk door behind him. Lance mirrored Keith’s position, their knees brushing in the close quarters. Keith busied himself with arranging the neon blankets around them as he explained, “You’re not wrong.” He cleared his raspy throat. “He does need us. A lot.” He looked up at Lance, unreadable in the dusky light. “But he needs us at our A game, not burnt out and crashed in a ditch outside El Paso. Got it?”

They stared off for a moment. Lance blinked first, heaving a big sigh. “Oh, _fine_ ,” he said, crawling up to reach and grab his phone out of the front cupholder, yanking it out of its cords. “Have it _your_ way.”

“Exactly.” Keith curled up on his side under the blankets, hugging a pillow. “Now settle down. I’m beat.”

Lance huffed, checking his phone first – only normal stuff on the guild server, nothing from his family (well, it _was_ three in the morning over there), and nothing from Hunk. He bit his lip, sent him an update on their progress anyway, then opened his clock and made a new alarm. “I’m giving us three hours,” he said. “Hopefully that’s enough for a couple of REM cycles.” Keith grunted. Lance took off his Vans and outer jacket, keeping his sweatshirt and jeans on. “Um, I guess we’re sharing all this stuff?” he asked.

“If y’all think I went out and bought _two_ sets of clearance Walmart bedding just to preserve our manhoods y’all’ve got another think coming,” Keith growled, still turned away from Lance.

Lance stuck his tongue out at the ear and hair tufts poking out from bright pink. He wriggled in between the fleece layers, Keith’s body heat already radiating out like a damn boiler. The car bounced a bit on her wheels as he shifted – probably the wrong impression from the outside. “Hey, won’t the Waffle House people have a problem with us sleeping out here?” he asked.

“Gave ‘em a good tip,” Keith grumbled. “Should be good ‘til shift change. Now _shut up_.”

“Bitchy, bitchy.” The trunk bed wasn’t quite long enough for Lance, so he had to inch up higher than Keith, socks pressed against the trunk door, back bumping against something warm and solid. “Sorry,” he whispered.

“Get _over_ it.” Keith didn’t try to scoot away, but pressed back harder. “Warmer this way.”

Lance stilled, staring at the door handle in front of his face. Keith’s breathing settled behind him, his back moving with it against Lance. Lance held the Walmart pillow tighter, burying his face in it. “Hey, Keith?”

“ _What._ ”

Lance sighed. “I’m really glad you’re the one doing this with me.”

Keith didn’t answer. Lance closed his eyes and willed his body to relax some as he waited, the hard ‘mattress’ cutting into his side, but he was too tired to care much. Two full REM cycles…

“Yeah,” Keith whispered. “I’m glad, too.” Lance smiled into his pillow.

* * *

**_Auburn, CA – Thu, Nov 22, 2018, 12:15 AM PST_ **

Hunk laid on his creaky cot, staring at the ceiling overhead and trying to force himself to sleep. He was tired, stress and a _long_ day eating at him, but his mind wouldn’t settle, too many sleeping people noises around him and too much noise in his head. He checked his watch – sighed, biting his cheek against anything else. Happy Thanksgiving.

The cot the church assigned to him wasn’t really big enough, so he couldn’t move much, stuck there with metal poles cutting into his sides and his hands crossed over his stomach, counting the dots in the ceiling tiles. Someone here was a snorer, and all of the kids were snifflers. The families already here had been polite enough when the librarian dropped him off and introduced him to the church volunteers, but everyone here had their own problems, their own walls built up to keep more from crawling in. He had eaten alone, the food lukewarm since he had shown up two hours after it was officially served, then was shuffled to the back room that served as a temporary dorm for their unlucky guests. He thought he had gotten used to sharing a room in the last few months of college dorm living, but his plastic mattress in San Jose was miles away from this place – literally. God, he wished he was back there, alone for the break and gaming with Lance or Keith or doing homework with Pidge… oh God, all of his homework had been on his machine… damn, he should have dug out his hard drive before he ran. His dad wouldn’t know a hard drive from a motherboard, so if he had saved the parts scattered across the floor, maybe Hunk could salvage it… but it was probably in the trash. His mom probably couldn’t have saved anything, even if she thought to.

If his dad turned on her because of this, Hunk would never be able to live with himself.

He slapped his hands to his face, dragging them down and biting back a groan. He couldn’t do this forever, skating by on the goodwill of strangers and ignoring the sticky mess he had left behind two nights ago. He had to go back to school at some point, and there was no bus or anything from this sheep town in the mountains down to San Jose. He _had_ to finish, had to get through his degree and find a real job that could support him and his mom and take them both out of that damn house and out of this damn _state_. That was the plan, laid out with Lance over too many late night texts and midnight anxiety attacks. It had just started to feel like something real, too, now that he had finally been living in a different building than his dad and having his own life on his own time. And then he had to go and blow it all up.

He let his hands fall to the side, dangling off the cot, fingers brushing cold linoleum. What he _should_ do was turn on his phone, see what pieces of his life were trying to track him down, and face their music. The longer he put it off, the worse that music would be. He turned his head to look at his duffel on the floor by his head, ratty and dusty from a decade of use before the ringer he had put it through today. All he had to do was put his hand in and click a button…

He turned back to the ceiling and forced his eyes closed. Tomorrow. He’d look tomorrow.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> {A/N: WE GOING IN [tumblr](http://carriecmoney.tumblr.com) [twitter](http://www.twitter.com/carriecmoney)}

**_Skype – that dark shadowy place the light never touches – Thu, Oct 20, 2016, 1:41 AM CST_ **

PiGForce  
guess what everyone  
_1:41 am_

shiro  
pretty sure it’s just us, pidge  
_1:43 am_

PiGForce  
oh boo  
Well I finally got my special speech converter working well better  
_1:44 am_

Shiro  
Too bad... I loved your talky typos  
it was like your accent  
_1:45 am_

PiGForce  
You're just an old man and hate change  
_1:46 am_

Shiro  
guilty as charged.  
_1:47 am_

PiGForce  
Why do so many off-the-shelf speech converters blow so hard shiro  
I'm going to fight all of them with my teeth  
_1:50 am_

shiro  
fuck me if I know....  
_1:52 am_

PiGForce  
Pass  
_1:53 am_

shiro  
lol  
So how does it work?  
_1:53 am_

PiGForce  
it's still a little janky I got a recording up until I hit enter for whatever program I'm in at the moment  
it's just a program I have running in the background so it sometimes picks up stuff it shouldn't  
_1:56 am_

shiro  
Are you using it now?  
_1:57 am_

PiGForce  
Duh  
_1:57 am_

shiro  
it's really late.... don't you have school tmrw?  
_1:58 am_

PiGForce  
You're not my mom wait oh s*** we have a point okay I'm typing again  
Thanks for saving my ass from a serious beatdown  
_2:01 am_

shiro  
:) couldn't have that haha  
I'd actually be interested in helping you test it if you don't mind.  
_2:04 am_

PiGForce  
wait really? I didn't know you were into this kinda stuff  
_2:07 am_

shiro  
I'm not a huge fan of typing tbh, I'll take any way out of it... but you're right in that most of the stuff you cna buy now isn't perfect  
It's more annoying to go back and fix stuff than it is to just type it from the start  
_2:12 am_

PiGForce  
right??  
I mean they've gotten a lot better but we're nowhere close to star trek shit  
and you do type slow  
_2:14 am_

shiro  
:|  
_2:14 am_

PiGForce  
;)  
_2:14 am_

shiro   
disability tech is an interest of mine, so I'm happy to help you out  
_2:16 am_

PiGForce  
That's cool! You mean like bionic arms and stuff?  
_2:16 am_

shiro  
and stuff, yeah  
_2:17 am_

PiGForce  
Neat! lemme figure out how to port this into a real thing and I'll send u a dropbox link or smth  
_2:18 am_

shiro  
Perfect, I'm excited  
Now go to bed...  
_2:21 am_

PiGForce  
worrywart  
you should too then if I have to suffer  
_2:14 am_

shiro  
haha sure  
night!  
_2:15 am_

PiGForce  
>:P

* * *

 

**_I-80 W, Mile Marker 258, WY – Thu, Nov 22, 2018, 6:47 AM MST_ **

“So. Matt.”

“Are you gonna apologize for making me take the back seat again?” he grumbled from behind Shiro. “It's a freaking shoebox back here.”

“No, quit your bitchin’.” Matt huffed. Pidge continued from the driver's seat, “So, _Matt_. I made Shiro a promise last night.” She wrinkled her nose at the slow car she was stuck behind and flipped her blinker to swerve past them. “I told him we’d let him tell us how to act about his arm and stuff. So.”

“Huh?” Matt squeezed Shiro’s elbow where it was resting on the center console. “Shiro! You could have _said_ we were being dicks!”

Shiro laughed, holding up his hand and hook. “It’s fine, it’s fine! You aren’t doing anything out of the ordinary-”

“And _I_ told _you_ , it’s not about being _ordinary_ ,” Pidge snapped, dancing through a smattering of other cars to get to an open stretch of interstate and gunning it. “We’re giving you a chance to make us act the way you _want_ us to. So _spill_.”

Shiro sighed, running his hand through his hair. “Honestly, I’ve never thought about it like that before,” he admitted. “I mean, I know what I _don’t_ like, but there’s… there’s a lot more grey stuff in the middle than you’d expect to have before it happens to you, y’know?” Pidge circled her hand to urge him on when he stumbled. He tugged on his bangs. “Like – like, I don’t mind answering all your questions, Pidge, because I know you, and I know you’re not trying to pity me or anything, you just like to know how things work. But it’s… it’s really uncomfortable when, say, a gas station attendant or one of my students asks why I don’t have a bionic arm, y’know? Because it’s always a speech but it’s _always_ the same one, and it takes forever, and sometimes I just want to buy a Gatorade and go home.” Matt barked a laugh from behind them, and Pidge grinned. Shiro smiled, relaxing as much as he could in the cramped reckless car, staring down at his hook poking out from his sleeve in his lap. “Plus, if I don’t shut it down, they usually ask how it happened… and I’d rather not.”

Pidge snorted. “God, why don’t they just ask about your miscarriage while they’re at it, huh?”

Shiro smiled, flexing the grip of his hook idly. “I did notice that you never got close to asking,” he said, soft voice too loud in the quiet car. (How did they make such a quiet engine in such a tiny speed demon?) “Might have been the longest conversation I’ve had about it that didn’t go that way, actually.”

Pidge hummed, weaving around another semi. “I mean… everyone’s got scars. Look at Matt.”

“ _Hey._ ”

“And most of _his_ stuff is just being stupid,” she continued, ignoring her pouting brother in the back. “And I’ll still throw down with any bitch who asks what he did to his face.”

“Aww, Pidgey! You _do_ love me!”

“Can it, dweeb.” She wove between a van and a pickup, cutting it close enough that Shiro tried to grab the oh shit bar, glaring at his hook when it couldn’t reach high enough. “What I’m _trying_ to say,” she snapped, tossing a crumpled chip bag over her shoulder to hit Matt in the face, “is that even I know there are limits.”

“Oh my God, you know about _limits?_ ”

“Shiro, hit him for me.”

“Shiro’s way too nice to – _ow!_ ”

Pidge cackled as Shiro faced forward again, not hiding his smirk as Matt pouted his best at him, rubbing his shoulder more than the hit was worth. “For the Alliance!” She snickered, holding up a fist that Shiro side-bumped.

“Fuck the Horde,” he sounded off. She snickered again.

“Can’t believe my little sister stole my basic best friend from me,” Matt whined, leaning against the back of her seat. She reached up awkwardly to pat his bristly head.

“There, there. That’s why you have other friends.” She wrapped her arm around Shiro’s resting on the center console. “This one’s mine now, no takebacks.” Matt gasped, and the sibling bickering took off into a Holt code that Shiro had no chance of deciphering. Pidge kept a hold of his arm, though, wrist looped around his elbow. She drove one-handed, which set off his lizardbrain primal fear of a fiery death, sure, but her grip was tight, fingers almost too soft on the bared skin of his forearm below his rolled-up sleeve. She didn’t have any of the hard callouses Shiro or his coworkers and students had, the hardest surface they would encounter daily the plastic of her keyboard. He shifted his seat just enough to make his leftward lean a little more comfortable without drawing attention to it, putting more of his weight on the console and crossing his legs to the other side. The siblings were too caught up in their argument to care, focus officially off him and his disability.

He put his head back against the headrest and closed his eyes. How _did_ he prefer people to handle it…

* * *

**_Messages+ – Fri, Jun 29, 2018, 4:12 PM EST_ **

From: Lance 🐬  
Hey boo, what’s your new addy?  
Fri, Jun 29, 1:12 PM

From: 💛 Hunka Hunka Burnin Love 💛  
Uuuh zip 95603, don’t remember the no but street is garnet way  
Fri, Jun 29, 4:18 PM

From: 💛 Hunka Hunka Burnin Love 💛  
I’ll find the no if you were gonna send me smth?  
Fri, Jun 29, 4:18 PM

From: Lance 🐬  
Cool. Nah just bored on gmaps lol  
Fri, Jun 29, 1:20 PM

From: Lance 🐬  
44 hour drive from Miami :(  
Fri, Jun 29, 1:23 PM

From: 💛 Hunka Hunka Burnin Love 💛  
Awww  
Fri, Jun 29, 4:24 PM

From: Lance 🐬  
  
Fri, Jun 29, 1:26 PM

From: 💛 Hunka Hunka Burnin Love 💛  
Just keeps getting farther away haha  
Fri, Jun 29, 4:27 PM

From: Lance 🐬  
This is biphobia  
Fri, Jun 29, 1:28 PM

From: 💛 Hunka Hunka Burnin Love 💛  
How dare physics not bend for us  
Fri, Jun 29, 4:28 PM

From: Lance 🐬  
Or economics lmao  
Fri, Jun 29, 1:29 PM

From: Lance 🐬  
You should come visit for fall break!! Like for real! I’ll make Veronica help w the plane, she gets cheap standby these days  
Fri, Jun 29, 1:34 PM

From: 💛 Hunka Hunka Burnin Love 💛  
Haha, maybe next year  
Fri, Jun 29, 4:38 PM

From: 💛 Hunka Hunka Burnin Love 💛  
Not sure if I could swing it this time… planes are expensive :(  
Fri, Jun 29, 4:38 PM

From: Lance 🐬  
Makes a gofundme so two old pals can finally meet irl lol  
Fri, Jun 29, 1:40 PM

From: Lance 🐬  
Bet the guild would sponsor it  
Fri, Jun 29, 1:42 PM

From: 💛 Hunka Hunka Burnin Love 💛  
Lol  
Fri, Jun 29, 4:44 PM

From: Lance 🐬  
At least some of them gotta be rich af  
Fri, Jun 29, 1:45 PM

From: 💛 Hunka Hunka Burnin Love 💛  
Yeah pidge’s fam is totally loaded  
Fri, Jun 29, 4:47 PM

From: Lance 🐬  
Whaaaaa  
Fri, Jun 29, 1:48 PM

From: Lance 🐬  
Fucking gremlin family…  
Fri, Jun 29, 1:48 PM

From: 💛 Hunka Hunka Burnin Love 💛  
Yeah, his parents are basically the kimp parents but nerdier  
Fri, Jun 29, 4:48 PM

From: Lance 🐬  
That’s sick  
Fri, Jun 29, 1:49 PM

From: 💛 Hunka Hunka Burnin Love 💛  
But I’m /not/ asking pidge to buy me a plane ticket >:/  
Fri, Jun 29, 4:51 PM

From: Lance 🐬  
Boooo :((((  
Fri, Jun 29, 1:52 PM

From: 💛 Hunka Hunka Burnin Love 💛  
But I’m applying for some campus jobs next semester… maybe I can save up to visit next summer   
Fri, Jun 29, 4:54 PM

From: Lance 🐬  
Yaaay!!! :DDDD  
Fri, Jun 29, 1:56 PM

From: 💛 Hunka Hunka Burnin Love 💛  
Lab time, bbl  
Fri, Jun 29, 4:58 PM

From: Lance 🐬  
Kk  
Fri, Jun 29, 1:58 PM

From: Lance 🐬  
American has a flight from sjc to mia from $450… Just sayin  
Fri, Jun 29, 2:07 PM

From: 💛 Hunka Hunka Burnin Love 💛  
Lol I’ll keep that in mind  
Fri, Jun 29, 5:19 PM

From: Lance 🐬  
You betta  
Fri, Jun 29, 2:23 PM

* * *

**_I-10 W, Mile Marker 281, TX – Thu, Nov 22, 2018, 8:33 AM CST_ **

_“You feel like Brooklyn in the summer! Been hiding half-awake for so-”_

“Si, please, for the love of God, no one wants to hear you sing before nine in the morning.”

Lance gasped, pressing a hand to his heart (that still skipped every time Keith called him ‘Si’ out loud, the traitor). “Excuse you! My abuela’s church would beg to disagree!” He tapped the steering wheel in time with the song’s thumping beat, grinning over at a grumbly Keith. Keith was still wrapped on one of their neon fleece blankets, curled up around a way-too-comfortable four dollar pillow, scowling out the windshield through his tornado hair. Lance laughed, taking pity on him and turning down the volume on his phone a few more notches. “You know, I thought you’d be more of a morning person,” he joked, poking Keith’s shoulder (well, probably his shoulder, it was hard to tell through the blanket). Keith shrugged him off, grumbling like a grizzly bear.

“Usually I sleep more’n three hours and don’t get woken up by a shift supervisor shaking my car.” He tugged the blanket higher to cover a bared section of his neck. Lance had finally had enough awareness of his surroundings when they got going that morning to notice that Keith had a black knotted string choker tied around his neck, very goth-surfer chic and _very_ distracting. The blanket hid it from view again now, his loose hair doing the rest. Lance should really get him a brush or at least a comb next time they stopped for gas. He glanced at his tank meter – probably needed to start looking in half an hour or so. The farther west they got, the more oil rigs and scrubbrush they saw instead of human habitation. He wasn’t looking to get stranded in the desert on Thanksgiving with only a pouty Keith for company, thanks very much.

The sun wasn’t shining straight into his side view mirrors anymore, so he shoved his sunglasses on top of his head, humming with the outro of the song as it switched to the next on his Spotify. He would probably crash before they hit El Paso around noon, but for now, the spotty car naps throughout the night before and the large coffee from the gas station next to the Waffle House had pumped him up enough to pick a real playlist instead of just running off shuffle to sing along to. Texas was so _flat_ , which he thought he was used to from Florida, but there were no trees or buildings to break up the neutral sand, just the black ostriches of the oil rigs and the pale asphalt of the highway. It would be miserable here in the summer, but right now it was windy and close to freezing outside, sand blowing in waves across the interstate. It wasn’t very interesting, actually, once the novelty had worn off, which had been at least an hour ago. He tapped his feet to the beat of the current song – he had been on cruise for ages, and it wasn’t looking like he would have to brake any time soon. He was _bored_.

 _“I can’t lift this on my own… I’m pulling my weight, in, gold…_ ”

“Si. Please. _Shut up_.”

Lance pouted. “You’re just negative amounts of fun today, huh?” Keith grunted. “Didn’t you get enough coffee?”

“Caffeine don’t do shit to me,” Keith mumbled into his pillow.

Lance stared at him until Blueness veered into a rumble strip and he jerked her back into her lane. “How are you even _human?_ ”

Keith shrugged. “Some say I’m not.” Lance snorted on a laugh, pressing a knuckle to his grin. Keith cut his eyes at him, the visible parts of his face trying not to smile. “When I was a kid, I thought my mom was an alien,” he said, adjusting his seat a little straighter and less of a fetal pillow curl. “Wasn’t until I met her when I was fifteen that I really stopped believing that.”

“You didn’t meet your mom until you were _fifteen?_ ” Keith nodded with a shrug, expression closing up again with his curl. Lance bit his tongue, stomach sinking a little. “That’s rough, buddy.”

A hand poked out from the blanket to shove Lance’s shoulder. “Don’t try to butter me up with Avatar references, jerk.” Lance winked and shoved him back. Keith and his pitbull muscles didn’t even give under it, but he did unfold of his own volition at last, legs falling with the blanket as he flopped to stare out the window. “Parents are…” He trailed off as the pillow slipped down to his shins. “I’m supposed to call her at some point on the drive,” he told the distant desert, “but I haven’t even seen her in over a year. I’m not even sure if she has the same number.”

Lance watched the road paint flash by, streaks of dirty white between blinks. “We’ll do it after lunch, ‘kay? And then we’ll call mine, to make it even.”

Keith’s hair nodded. “Okay. Sure.”

The car was silent for a song, still in the desert. Then Lance snorted, laughing for no reason, the sounds jerking Keith out of his doze. He blinked through his bangs, floating on the edge of confused and exhausted. “Wha’so funny?” he slurred out.

Lance’s laughter faded to a smile. “This isn’t really how I thought Hunk’n me’s first time meeting up would go,” he said, pulling up his left leg to prop his foot on the seat, knee knocking into where the window met the door. He stared down the empty highway, not really registering the paint and reflectors beyond his reflexes keeping the tired between them. “We always planned for him to visit me,” he said to the drifting sand. “We knew his dad wouldn’t put up with a random visitor from Florida in his house, but my family knows all about him and they wouldn’t mind a bit.” He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “I never said it, but I actually wanted them to just… not let him go home. Mami would love him, and everyone else does what she says in our house.” He sighed. “He wouldn’t want that, though. He’s too protective of his mom, and ever since his brother skipped out, he’s had a hero complex about her.”

Keith’s head lifted a bit from the pillow. “Back up. He’s got a _brother?_ ”

Lance flicked his eyes at Keith’s, boring out from his hair like a ghost in the night. Lance scratched his nose. “Oh, uh, yeah, he does, technically.” Lance scratched harder. “He’s a few years older than us and moved out basically the day he graduated high school and doesn’t stay in touch. Every now and then he’ll call Hunk and try to get him to join him in whatever place or job he’s got, but it… it never goes well.” He bit his cheek. “Pretty sure Hunk has never really forgiven him for leaving them behind like that. It takes a lot to make Hunk mad, but he kinda stays there once you get him that riled up.” He rubbed some warmth into his knee, the desert cold seeping in through the glass. He really should have worn better jeans, but he hadn’t known he wouldn’t get a chance to change out of them until Friday. “This whole thing now… it’s a little bit my fault that way, I guess.” He glanced at Keith again, but didn’t linger enough to gauge his reaction. “Every time something would happen and he’d actually tell me about it, I yell about how fucked up it all was, and tell him he should do something…” He swallowed, eyes burning. “I just thought I’d _be_ there… when it happened.”

Keith grunted, pushing himself up to sit right for real. “Like, half of me’n Hunk’s DMs are me yelling ‘fuck your dad’ at him.” He groaned, stretching enough that the blanket opened up and fell away, pooling at his sides where he was sitting on it. “So, it ain’t just been you.” He smirked at Lance, eyes barely open. “You can’t take _all_ the credit _all_ the time, Si.” Lance wrinkled his nose and stuck out his tongue at him. Keith flipped him off in return, a quick casual gesture, and picked up his lukewarm gas station coffee, sipping on it. “I really wish he’d text you back,” he muttered into the plastic lid. Lance hummed.

“Yeah. Same.” He checked his phone – no new notifications. He sighed, running a hand over his hair. “I’m getting him chipped after this, I swear.”

“No way, that’s how they get you.” Another loud sip. “We’ll just have to tag-team babysit him forever.”

“ _Dude._ ” Lance held out an open hand. “Ooh, you a’ight, Doug.”

Keith raised his eyebrows at him, then at his hand. “You want me to hold your hand?”

Lance scowled, hand flopping to rest on the center console palm-up. “I was _trying_ to high-five you for being overprotective of my bae, but if you wanna be a _dick_ about it-”

Keith reached across his body and slapped Lance’s hand hard enough to sting. Lance yelped, but Keith was back to curled-up grumbling at his coffee before he could do anything, propping his boots up against the glove box. “M’name’s not Doug,” he mumbled.

Lance shook his head. “Once we get there and have time and WiFi, we’re watching _all_ the SNL your weird alien life has deprived you of.” Keith grunted into his coffee. “Why are you even drinking that, anyway? You _just_ said caffeine doesn’t affect you.”

Keith shrugged over his black coffee. “Tastes nice.”

“ _God_ you’re weird.” Keith’s shoulders hunched in, and Lance rushed to add, “But that’s what makes you cute!”

Keith scoffed. “M’not _cute_.”

“Sure you ain’t, tough guy.” Keith flopped to the side, turning his shoulder to Lance with a huff, but Lance just grinned and turned up his phone’s volume again.

“ _Baby you got lucky ‘cause you’re rocking with the best-”_

“Si, I _swear_ to _God-_ ”

Lance cackled and kept singing along with Ariana.

* * *

**_Auburn, CA – Thu, Nov 22, 2018, 6:57 AM PST_ **

Hunk probably hadn’t slept more than twenty minutes in a row that night, jerked awake by a cough or a creak every time he drifted into a doze. Despite his fitful night, though, he wasn’t tired, but jittery, fingers itching to do _something_. So, as he usually did when that mood hit, he followed his nose and his ears to the kitchen.

It was still a little early, the other overnight church guests just starting to stir, talking quietly in their own little groups. He slipped out of the cot room to the kitchen without much fanfare, duffel slung across his chest. Better safe than sorry. Or maybe Keith’s paranoia had finally rubbed off on him.

Finding his way back to rec hall after a quick stop at the bathrooms wasn’t hard. The attached kitchen on one side of the spacious room had banging and sizzling audible through the cracked delivery window, so he snuck over to poke his nose in the swinging door.

An older black guy with curls a little too long to be clean-cut and scruffy facial hair was manning the stove, gut hanging out over a dirty apron and scowl permanently etched into his face. He saw Hunk snooping and scowled harder. “Well? Whatcha want, boy?”

Hunk winced. “Sorry sir, I was just…” He stepped all the way into the kitchen, the door swinging shut behind him. “Do you need any help? He gripped the strap of his duffel. “I really…” He took a deep breath. “I really need to do something with my hands right now.”

The cook stared at him from across the kitchen, hard to read at this distance. Hunk prepared his feet to _run_ -

But the cook just snorted “You any good with bacon?” Hunk nodded, cheek clenched in his teeth. “Well, c’mon, drop your stuff over there and let’s see what you got.” Hunk smiled, ducking under his duffel strap as he took it off and walked over, dumping it on an empty wire shelf and rolling up his sleeves.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> {A/N: Chugging away. Tbh, the opening chatlog is one of my favorites I've ever done, so be ready. I'm also trying to put off adding That One Ship Tag to this fic for as long as I can, but the boxed wine is pouring and I can only resist for so long. Brace yourselves. [tumblr](http://carriecmoney.tumblr.com) [twitter](http://www.twitter.com/carriecmoney)}

**_Discord - #lions-den ** _🔒_** – Tue, Apr 3, 2018, 4:34 PM EST_ **

**sirenamor** _Today at 4:34 pm  
_<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcBfDQIJHiI> look it’s pidge

 **PiGForce** _Today at 4:39 pm  
_ I will slaughter you in your sleep

 **sirenamor** _Today at 4:44 pm_  
Just try me, gremlin  
Also check ur WoW mail and be nice to me  
Happy birthday, my child

 **PiGForce** _Today at 4:46 pm_  
I’m 18 now so fuck off  
but thanks I guess

 **sirenamor** _Today at 4:47 pm  
_ and so the memed becomes the memer

 **shiro** _Today at 4:52 pm_  
is that a word now?  
God I feel old

 **HUNK** _Today at 4:53 pm_  
Wait  
I just realized  
If ur turning 18 in 2018… you were born in 2000???

 **sirenamor** _Today at 4:56 pm  
_ oh my GOD

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 4:59 pm  
_ FUCK

 **shiro** _Today at 5:00 pm  
_ Don’t do this to me.

 **PiGForce** _Today at 5:01 pm_  
:3cccc  
That’s what you get for being OLD

 **sirenamor** _Today at 5:02 pm_  
dgfjkiasd;k  
I’m taking my present back!!

 **PiGForce** _Today at 5:03 pm  
_ No, mine now _hugs_

 **princessplz** _Today at 5:03 pm  
_ It’s far too late in the evening to remind me of this

 **HUNK** _Today at 5:04 pm  
_ PIDGE IS A BABY

 **sirenamor** _Today at 5:04 pm  
_ our precious child

 **PiGForce** _Today at 5:05 pm  
_ I can kick ALL your asses

 **sirenamor** _Today at 5:05 pm_  
yeah at math team maybe  
I have the high ground

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 5:06 pm  
_ Well shiro will always be the youngest so he’s got you beat there

 **sirenamor** _Today at 5:06 pm  
_ Huh??

 **shiro** _Today at 5:06 pm  
_ KEITH

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 5:07 pm_  
Yeah his bday’s on leap day  
Did y’all not know that?

 **shiro** _Today at 5:07 pm  
_ Keith don’t

 **HUNK** _Today at 5:07 pm  
_ Seriously???

 **sirenamor** _Today at 5:07 pm  
_ HOLY SHIT???

 **PiGForce** _Today at 5:07 pm  
_ BWAHAHAHAHHAHAHA BEST BDAY EVER

 **shiro** _Today at 5:08 pm  
_ :(

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 5:08 pm  
_ You seriously hadn’t told them?

 **sirenamor** _Today at 5:08 pm  
_ #BLESSED

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 5:08 pm_  
Dude, last time you had a real birthday you made me drive up to visit  
You made me go _out_ to a _bar_ when I was _19_

 **shiro** _Today at 5:09 pm  
_ Look. look,

 **princessplz** _Today at 5:09 pm  
_ Interesting… so how old does that make you?

 **shiro** _Today at 5:09 pm  
_ I’m 26!

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 5:10 pm  
_ He’s 6 and a half

 **sirenamor** _Today at 5:10 pm  
_ This is the best day of my life 👍 3

 **shiro** _Today at 5:11 pm_  
Keith stop  
This is supposed to be pidge’s day

 **PiGForce** _Today at 5:11 pm_  
shiro this is the best present I’ve gotten all day  
and my parents got me a CAR

 **sirenamor** _Today at 5:12 pm_  
shiro, babe, have I ever told you how much I love you??  
you small child!!!

 **HUNK** _Today at 5:13 pm  
_ Lance don’t be creeping on the first grader that’s gross!!

 **shiro** _Today at 5:14 pm_  
Fuck all y’all  
I need a drink

 **PiGForce** _Today at 5:15 pm  
_ Buy me one it’s my birthday

 **shiro** _Today at 5:16 pm  
_ NO YOURE STILL A MINOR AND THIS CONVERSATION IS OVER

 **sirenamor** _Today at 5:17 pm  
_ Oooh he brought out the dad caps he’s SERIOUS

 **HUNK** _Today at 5:17 pm_  
It’s okay, shiro, 6 is the new 26!  
Don’t be ashamed of who you are!

 **shiro** _Today at 5:18 pm  
_ This is all your fault _@darkwolfboy_

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 5:18 pm  
_ Well maybe if you told people basic fact about your life that most people tell their friends I wouldn’t have to tell ppl stuff I thought they already knew

 **PiGForce** _Today at 5:19 pm  
_ ouch

 **HUNK** _Today at 5:19 pm  
_ That’s some good advice, maybe you should try it yourself sometime…

 **PiGForce** _Today at 5:20 pm  
_ OUCH

 **shiro** _Today at 5:20 pm_  
:||||||||||  
I’m turning off my phone

 **sirenamor** _Today at 5:21 pm  
_ Nooooo shiroooo I love youuuuuuu

 **darkwolfboy** _Toay at 5:21 pm  
_ I tell people stuff!

 **shiro** _Today at 5:21 pm  
_ If you love me you’d let me go.

 **HUNK** _Today at 5:22 pm  
_ Bruh.

 **PiGForce** _Today at 5:22 pm  
_ Lmao keep telling yourself that darky

 **sirenamor** _Today at 5:22 pm  
_ :((( Shiro why won’t u love meeee

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 5:23 pm  
_ oh shut up we don’t even know your gender!

 **shiro** _Today at 5:23 pm  
_ Who say I don’t?

 **PiGForce** _Today at 5:24 pm  
_ That’s the way (uh huh uh huh) I like it (uh huh uh huh)

 **sirenamor** _Today at 5:24 pm  
_ :OOOO

 **HUNK** _Today at 5:25 pm  
_ But Lance what about the baby?

 **sirenamor** _Today at 5:26 pm  
_ Don’t worry boo you’ll always be my main squeeze 🤗 but I won’t say no to a little spice in the bedroom 😏

 **princessplz** _Today at 5:26 pm  
_ You all are so exhausting… I’m going to bed

 **sirenamor** _Today at 5:27 pm  
_ sweet dreams princess

 **PiGForce** _Today at 5:27 pm  
🚨_ ALLO ALERT🚨ALLO ALERT🚨

 **sirenamor** _Today at 5:28 pm  
_ it’s called free love you’re just too young to understand!

 **shiro** _Today at 5:29 pm  
_ All of y’all are children and I’m turning this OFF

 **sirenamor** _Today at 5:30 pm  
_ 😽 u love us

 **HUNK** _Today at 5:30 pm  
_ Can’t believe you’re deserting me like this…. guess it’s true what they say about bi boys……

 **sirenamor** _Today at 5:31 pm  
_ gotta let my freak flag fly ❤️💜💙

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 5:32 pm  
_ I’m gay

 **PiGForce** _Today at 5:33 pm  
_ good for you sparky

 **sirenamor** _Today at 5:34 pm_  
… oh my god  
wait  
did u just come out to us?? For real???

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 5:36 pm_  
Y’all were complaining I never told y’all stuff  
So I did  
Happy??

 **sirenamor** _Today at 5:39 pm_  
BABE I’M IN TEARS??????

 **HUNK** _Today at 5:40 pm  
_ ❤️❤️❤️❤️

 **PiGForce** _Today at 5:41 pm_  
great, another allo to deal with  
I thought u were stronger than this…

 **sirenamor** _Today at 5:41 pm  
_ Shut the fuck up let him have his moment

 **HUNK** _Today at 5:41 pm  
_ Thanks for telling us bro! Proud of u <3

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 5:42 pm_  
Sure whatever

 **sirenamor** _Today at 5:45 pm_  
okay dinnertime bbl but we’re talking boys later!!  
and happy bday pidgeot!

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 5:46 pm  
_ Please god no

 **PiGForce** _Today at 5:47 pm_  
Bite my whole ass

 **HUNK** _Today at 5:47 pm  
_ I love this fuckin family

* * *

**_I-10 W, Mile Marker 225, TX – Thu, Nov 22, 2018, 9:25 AM CST_ **

“Keith. My man. _What_ are you doing.”

Keith glanced over his shoulder at Lance, who was leaning against the open car door Keith’s feet were sticking out of, one eyebrow raised. Keith struggled out of his awkward sprawl across the edge of the folded-down back seat, wincing as a headrest cut into his hip. “I ain’t listening to any more of your hipster jazz,” he grumbled, twisting around to sit up cross-legged and open his CD case in his lap. “And it’s my turn to-”

Lance burst out laughing, holding onto the door for dear life, making it sway with him as he lost control of his… everything. Keith stared at him, face heating up and teeth grinding his lip, hands clenched around his case. “ _What?”_ he growled. “What’s so _funny,_ asshole?”

Lance fell forward against the seat, elbows catching him and fingers tangling in the laces of one of Keith’s boots. He pressed his forehead to his wrists, shoulders still shaking as he wheezed, deep gulping breaths between full-body tremors. Keith scowled and banged him on the head with the case. “Knock it _off!_ ”

Lance didn’t knock it off, but pulled Keith’s leg closer by his bootstraps, resting his cheek on his calf and beaming up at him, tears in his eyes and hair a hot mess. “Keith, babe,” he said, sunshine pouring out of him, “I love you so _fucking_ much.”

Keith sucked in a breath, freezing with his CD case held up high for another hit, unable to look away from Lance’s light. He swallowed.

“That’s gay,” he forced out. Lance barked a laugh and slapped Keith’s ankle, pushing himself out of his weird layout, hopping up to perch on the corner of their trunk-bed and take the CD case from Keith’s raised hands.

“I can’t believe you _have_ one of these,” he said, a little bit of laughter still in his voice as he flipped through the leaves of Keith’s hundred CD holder with a lazy smile. “What are you, like, fifty?”

Keith crossed his arms tight around his pounding chest gripping his flannel. “M’twenty-two,” he grumbled. Lance cut his eyes at him. “What?”

Lance shrugged, flipping through more of his CDs. “Just always forget you’re more than, like, a few months older than me,” he said. He snorted. “Why’s your music taste so _old?_ ”

Keith huffed. “Most of it’s stuff from the shop,” he admitted. “When the boys get tired of listening to something, I get the hard copy.”

“That’s absolutely adorable.” He heaved a sigh and closed it, handing it back to Keith. “Tragically, it’s useless here.”

Keith blinked. “Huh?”

Lance flapped a hand towards the dash. “CD player’s broken. One got stuck in there years ago and won’t come out.” He shrugged at Keith’s empty stare. “Told you it was finicky.”

Keith sneered and dropped his case to the side to rattle around on top of one of his duffels. “When this is over, I’m getting’ y’all a new ass stereo first thing.”

“You do that, babe.” Keith’s heart skittered again as Lance scooted off his perch to get back on the ground, gesturing for Keith to come out, too. “C’mon, samurai. Let’s get rolling, we can find something your old ass likes to listen to on my Spotify.” Keith frowned, but rolled out after him, hair on his neck on rising a little when Lance held his elbow to balance him when he teetered on the exit.

“You still wanna drive?” Lance asked, absolutely oblivious to Keith’s heightened senses at _every damn move he made_ as his elbow hand drifted down to the small of Keith’s back before falling away. Keith jerked out of reach, slamming the gas cap closed and throwing himself in the driver’s seat. “Guess that’s a yes, then.” Lance closed the back door and walked around the hood, drumming on it and winking at Keith through the windshield. Keith bared his teeth at him; Lance was still laughing as he got in the passenger side, bouncing a little as he buckled up and unlocked his phone. “Okay, what’re you in the mood for?”

Keith scowled harder and took Lance’s phone, typing in an artist name and clicking play before Lance could get past the blustery stage of indignant. Old school electric guitar crooned through the speakers. Keith clicked the volume up a tic or two before dropping the phone in the cupholder and wrenching the car into gear, hand resting on the gearshift as he pulled out of the gas station.

“Geez, _some_ one woke up on the wrong side of the trunk,” Lance drawled, picking up his phone with a poke into Keith’s side, too quick for Keith to flinch away or react. “What's the burr, bugaboo?”

Keith slammed on the brakes at the gas station exit, glaring _hard_ at a shocked Lance. “Will you _stop it?_ ” he snapped, a lot louder than he meant. Lance jumped away, eyes widening and smile falling and _nononono-_

“Okay,” Lance said in a small voice, turning back to his phone with red ears. “Sorry.”

Keith sighed, banging his face into the steering wheel. “Look, I…” Someone honked behind him. He jerked back and got on the road, only paying half a mind to make sure they merged back on the westbound ramp. “I’m… I don’t… _touch_ people a lot normally,” he admitted, carefully looking away from Lance’s face. “It’s just… it’s just a lot for me, okay?”

Lance hummed. “So, Mr. Emo didn’t get enough love as a child, huh?” Keith snorted. Lance shifted in his seat. “If it really makes you uncomfortable, I can back off,” Lance said. “Just say the word.”

“Pretty sure I just did,” he grumbled. Lance chuckled, and Keith relaxed a bit, merging onto the highway before glancing over to check that that kicked-puppy look was off of Lance’s face. It mostly was, but something scared lingered in the ocean sky. Keith gulped. “It’s not – _bad_ ,” he admitted, the skin at the small of his back tingling with lingering warmth. “I’m just… not used to it.”

The song’s chorus kicked in, a crooning thing about fallen angels. Keith tapped along to it with his free foot, focusing on driving as Lance mulled it over, scrolling through his phone in a deep slump, knees pressed against the glovebox. “My family’s a really tactile family,” he said after a few miles, idly kicking his dangling sneakers. “It’s just how we live. Sometimes I forget not everyone’s the same.” He flopped his head to smile at Keith, sun half-set but still burning. “But I’ll try to be better.”

Keith swallowed. “Thanks.” He tucked some loose hair behind his ear. “And I’ll… I’ll try not to yell at you as much.”

Lance snorted. “Lot to work on there, man.” He sat up, weaseling his way out of his uncomfortable curl. “So, you like old beardy guys, huh?”

Keith sputtered. “I’m not-” Lance held up his phone with the album art for the current song, which, yes, was an illustration of a beardy guy of indeterminate but definitely older age. Lance raised his eyebrows at him. “That’s – I just like the music!”

“Uh _huh_.” He put the phone back into the cupholder, lifting a foot to plant it on the dash would he _stop that?_ “And what other ‘music’ do you like, tough guy?”

Keith cut his eyes at a smirking Lance. “You don’t actually care about my music taste, right?”

Lance gasped, hand to his chest. “ _Me?_ Talk in metaphor? Surely not!” Keith pulled a face that Lance laughed at. “We never _have_ talked about boys,” Lance pointed out with a smile. “And you said we would!”

“No, _you_ said we would. _I_ told you to fuck off.” Lance snickered. “Okay then, what kind of ‘ _music’_ do _you_ like?”

Lance winked. “Everything except rap and country.” Keith punched his arm. “ _Hey!_ That hurt!”

Keith grinned. “That’s how _my_ family shows affection.”

“You have a weird family, dude.” Lance rubbed his arm. “Nah, but really, I never really know who’s gonna be hot until I meet them.” He gestured at Keith. “Case in point.”

Something warm trickled down Keith’s spine. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me!” He flicked Keith’s shoulder. “Mister engine grease and ripped jeans over here actin’ like you ain’t shit with a chip on your shoulder the size of a sequoia. Hot as shit.”

Keith flushed, feeling it all the way to his belly. “Um…”

Lance blinked at him – smirked. “Aww, is the baby not used to getting a compliment?” Keith’s shoulders hunched up. He leant on the center console with both forearms stretching the seat belt to its limit to press his cheek to Keith’s upper arm. “The baby doesn’t even know he’s _hot_ ,” he sang into Keith’s flannel, rubbing his cheek into it.

Keith pushed him off, careful to be gentle enough not to hurt him even if all of his nerves were shrieking at him to get _away_. “We _literally just_ talked about not touching me!”

Lance laughed, putting his chin in his hands. “But then I don’t get to see your face turn red!” Keith scowled and rubbed hard at his hot cheeks. Lance patted his elbow and sat back normal. “Don’t worry, I won’t make a move on you or anything,” he assured Keith. “I know not everyone’s into that.”

Keith ground his teeth for a new reason. “Who told you _that._ ” Lance shrugged, looking out the window. “Lance.” He swung back to look at Keith, but Keith stayed fixed on the road. “Anyone would be lucky to be hit on by you,” he said before he could stop himself.

“Aww, thanks, babe.” Keith sucked in a little breath through his nose, but Lance didn’t notice, thank God. “Seriously, dude, you’re attractive as fuck. You just need to own it more.”

Keith bit his lip. “Thanks, I guess.”

“And you can start by washing your hair.”

Keith bristled. “I _wash_ my _hair-”_

“I’m just saying!” Lance cut him off, laughter an undercurrent. “Maybe if you used some good conditioner more than once a week, you could attract-” He gasped. “You _weasel!_ You never told me _your_ type!”

Keith huffed. “I don’t _have_ a type,” he lied.

“Liar.” Lance folded down his armrest to lean on it, tilting his head as he peered at Keith. “It’s big beardy guys, isn’t it?”

“ _No!_ ” He gripped the steering wheel. “It’s…” _Tall, not white, funny, a little bit overconfident-_

His jaw clacked shut. “It’s nothing.”

“ _Liar!_ ” Lance leant in more, foot still propped on the dash, chin gripped in his fingers. “You said not bears… otters?”

“What?”

Lance guffawed. “Really? Man, should’ve known you’d be a shitty gay.” He launched into definitions of subcultures Keith had no chance of remembering, wriggling around in his seat as he talked, getting a little in Keith’s bubble but not enough to pop it, the gruff country blaring away in the background. Keith had no choice but to laugh along all the way through Texas.

* * *

**_Discord – Voltron Coalition – #kidz-korner 🔒 – Fri, Sep 14, 2018, 8:49 PM CST_ **

**PiGForce** _Today at 8:49 pm  
_ Pop quiz: how do you make people like you

 **sirenamor** _Today at 8:53 pm  
_ Good looks and charm 😽

 **PiGForce** _Today at 8:53 pm  
_ Not helpful

 **sirenamor** _Today at 8:53 pm  
_ Aww, is the baby gremlin trying to make new gremlin friends at gremlin college?

 **PiGForce** _Today at 8:53 pm_  
Shut up bitch  
My dorm is having movie night and I don’t know anybody and I’m not used to not knowing anybody okay

 **sirenamor** _Today at 8:55 pm  
_ Well first step: stop hiding in a corner on your phone talking to your gamer friends who don’t live in your state

 **HUNK** _Today at 8:55 pm  
_ it’s okay pidge! It’s never fun to be in a new spot

 **sirenamor** _Today at 8;56 pm_  
Second step: get smth to eat you’ll feel better  
Target the pizza table ;)

 **HUNK** _Today at 8:57 pm  
_ it always helps me to remember that everyone else is feeling super awk, too :)

 **sirenamor** _Today at 8:57 pm  
_ Third step: take off the gremlin mask and ask someone what’s their name and what’s their major

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 8:57 pm  
_ Do college kids really do that?

 **sirenamor** _Today at 8:58 pm  
_ Lol yes, esp at freshie mixers like what our little pidgeotto is at

 **HUNK** _Today at 8:58 pm  
_ you’ll do great ☀

 **PiGForce** _Today at 8:59 pm_  
Wow… Lance actually has a good thought sometimes  
Incredible

 **sirenamor** _Today at 9:00 pm  
_ HEY NOW

 **PiGForce** _Today at 9:00 pm  
_ Okay. Pulling in 5

 **sirenamor** _Today at 9:01 pm_  
Just go be your lovable gremlin self  
But don’t eat anything after midnight!

 **PiGForce** _Today at 9:01 pm  
_ Bite me bitch

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 9:02 pm  
_ Don’t bite anyone. Trust me, it won’t end well.

 **sirenamor** _Today at 9:03 pm  
_ Darky wtf

 **PiGForce** _Today at 9:03 pm  
_ Lol okay

 **sirenamor** _Today at 9:03 pm_  
Darky are you serious? Have you bitten ppl before??  
As an adult???

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 9:03 pm_  
Adult is relative  
And they deserved it

 **PiGForce** _Today at 9:04 pm  
_ I shall not bite anyone even if they deserve it, pinky swear

 **sirenamor** _Today at 9:05 pm_  
A real ass wolf boy…  
Take care big p!!

 **HUNK** _Today at 9:05 pm_  
go make some friends!  
and we talked about the biting darky  >:(

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 9:06 pm  
_ Yeah yeah

 **sirenamor** _Today at 9:06 pm  
_!!!!!!

 **PiGForce** _Today at 9:07 pm  
_ Putting phone away. Pulling now

 **HUNK** _Today at 9:07 pm  
_ 🎺🎺

 **sirenamor** _Today at 9:07 pm_  
Make friends!!  
AND TELL ME ABOUT THE BITING!!

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 9:09 pm  
_ Nah.

 **sirenamor** _Today at 9:10 pm  
_ :((((

* * *

**_I-80 W, Mile Marker 130, WY – Thu, Nov 22, 2018, 8:53 AM MST_ **

“We’ve forgot the taste of bread… the softness of the sun…” Matt slid into Shiro’s side where he was leaning against this doorstep of a car, locked hook holding the gas pump in place. Shiro glanced over as Matt yanked his hat down over his ears, shivering. “I miss hair,” he mumbled.

“You could resign your commission if you want,” Shiro said with a grin. “Go live in the desert and grow out your hippie hair again. I’m sure the government will _never_ find you.” Matt groaned, leaning harder into Shiro’s side and resting his head on Shiro’s shoulder. “You _could_ get back in the car,” Shiro suggested, his breath crystalizing. “Or help Pidge pick out snacks.”

Matt snorted. “It’s still so weird hearing other people call her that.” He pushed off Shiro’s side to lean on his own piece of the pea car, staring out over the hills, the thick snow blanketing the dry bushes and exposed cliffs into a uniform bright white. He checked the store door with a glance, then said, “Hey, Shiro?” Shiro hummed. “Is my little sister… okay?”

Shiro tilted his head, brow furrowing. “What do you mean? She seems fine to me.”

Matt shook his head, still watching the door. “She’s always been – a little weird, and God loves her for it, but sometimes we worry it… gets in her way with people.” He shivered, shoulders hunching in. “Don’t tell her I said this, but the fact that she _wants_ to drive cross-country for a _friend’s_ sake… it’s why I was able to talk Mom into letting us skip Thanksgiving. She’s never had a lot of close friends growing up, and Mom’s been telling me that she’s been struggling at UIowa to make new ones.” He shrugged, shifting in his car lean. “I dunno. She’s her own person, I know, and I try to tell Mom that, too, but we just don’t want her to be unhappy, yeah?” He grinned at Shiro, his cheek scar almost disappearing with it. “And she seems to like _you_ , for some reason.”

Shiro laughed as the pump kicked back against his hook. He pushed off the car to turn and take it out with his hand, twisting the cap back on as he answered, “Well, I don’t know why _that_ would happen.” Matt rolled his eyes. “I dunno how she is in real life, really, but with the guild they’re fine. A little abrasive or aggressive sometimes, sure, but they fit right in with us.” He slapped the gas lid closed and snatched the receipt. “Some people just connect differently than others,” he said with a shrug. “Nothing to worry about, really.”

Matt huffed. “If you say so.”

“Okay, they didn’t have Arizona tea because we have officially reached beyond the reaches of the US government, but I got-” Pidge paused a few feet from the car, looking up from the plastic bag and raising her eyebrows behind her bangs. “Did I miss something here?”

Matt laughed, taking the bag from her limp hands. “Just boy talk!” He dug out his Monster can and cracked it as he kicked open the driver’s door. “Now get in, my butt’s freezing off!”

“What butt?” Pidge yelled back as they circled the car to the passenger side. “And be nicer to my girl! She didn’t do anything to you!”

“Of course she did! She exists, don’t she?” Matt threw himself into the green shoebox as Pidge climbed in the back, yanking the chair back to its normal resting place and patting a corner.

“All yours, Shiro!” she cried. Shiro chuckled, easing himself into the car and closing the door on the icicle wind.

“I spent two tours without developing claustrophobia,” he commented as he buckled up, “but if I don’t come out of this without some fear of closed spaces, I’m counting myself lucky.”

Pidge slapped his shoulder while Matt laughed, turning the car on and pulling out of the gas station. “Traitor!” she yelled. He held up hand and hook, grinning.

“Just calling it like I see it.” Shiro glanced over at Matt, who smiled back at him. “Don’t you have homework to do?” he asked.

“ _Ugh, Dad!_ ” she whined. Matt snickered.

* * *

**_Auburn, CA – Thu, Nov 22, 2018, 8:21 AM PST_ **

“You did good today, kid.”

Hunk looked up from the pan he was washing and grinned. “Oh, ah, thank you, sir.” The cook had told Hunk to call him Sal, not sir, but training ran deep. “Just glad I could help.”

“You did more’n that.” Sal started to put away the air-drying pots piling up on the ledge of the industrial sink. “Doubt those kids had been fed that good in a while. Good way to ring in Thanksgiving, it be.”

Hunk bit back a smile, skin tingling from more than the lemon soap. “Thank you.”

Sal shook off a few water drops from a baking sheet. “Who taught you all that, anyway? Ya ain’t gonna tell me that you’ve just got the knack for it, now.”

Hunk forced a laugh even as his gut twisted back into its familiar knot. “Oh, well, kind of, I guess. I’ve always goofed off in the kitchen with my mom,” he explained, “helping her bake and stuff. But we’ve never, like, sold anything, just presents for the neighbors and – and friends.” He shrugged, moving to the next pan to scrub. “I like making stuff. It helps me think.”

Sal grunted. “So what the hell’re you doin’ here?” he asked.

Hunk paused and looked back out the delivery window at the empty common room. The other guests had already left for the day, either moving onto the next kind hand or biding their time until the church served Thanksgiving dinner. Hunk had been allowed to stick around to help Sal clean when Sal told his fellow volunteers that he needed the assistance, in that gruff no-nonsense tone that made Hunk cringe, and that he hated made him cringe. They seemed to respect Sal enough to let him have the extra help, but insisted they needed to be out of the building by nine. Without the background chatter of people to feed, the immediacy of _oh God where do I go now_ was harder to ignore.

“I… I really don’t know anymore,” he said in a small voice. He cleared his throat and went back to scrubbing with a vengeance. “But I can’t go back,” he vowed, gripping the scrubber tight enough to leave grooves in the squishy handle. “Gotta keep moving.”

Sal grumbled as he put away the last of the clean pots in the lower cabinets. “You got anywhere to move _to?_ ” Hunk bit his lip. “Boy, anyone with eyes can tell this ain’t how you’re used to living,” he said from his kneel on the floor. “A right state you’ve found yourself in, huh?”

Hunk wiped his face off on his shoulder, holding in a bubble of hysteria. “You could say that.”

Sal pushed to his feet, groaning as his joints popped and pushing his back forward with a grimace. “Well, I was gonna go put in a few hours at my real place before going to my brother’s for Thanksgiving,” he said as his whole spine cracked. “It’ll be a damn mad house, so they won’t bat’n eye at one more.” He pulled an arm across his body to stretch his shoulder, watching Hunk from the corner of his eye. “You interested in working a little more for some decent food?”

Hunk weighed it. All of his usual hiding spots would be closed today; if he left the church on his own, he would just be wandering around town until some new person took pity on him – and there was no guarantee that that new person wouldn’t one of his dad’s coworkers. Sal seemed fine so far – maybe a little gruff, but he was used to gruff. It would be nice not to eat alone. He didn’t know what kind of place Sal worked at, but if he could stay busy like breakfast, maybe he could get a clearer head and focus on more than just his next foot forward.

“Yeah,” he said, turning off the faucet and wiping the soap off his hands with a dishrag. “Yeah, I’d love to.”

“Don’t get your hopes up _too_ high,” Sal grumbled, “My sister’n law can’t make a turkey to save her life.” Hunk laughed. “Now, c’mon, boy, let’s get on outta here.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> {A/N: So February happened. I promise I'm still gonna finish this, we've come too far now and I'm far too attached. [tumblr](http://carriecmoney.tumblr.com) [twitter](http://www.twitter.com/carriecmoney)}

**_World of Warcraft – Elwynn Forest – Sun, Dec 28, 2014, 9:47 PM EST_ **

[_HUNK_]: _/tell_ Hey PiGForce! It’s been a lot of fun running with you :) Wanna run w/ us more in the future?  
[sirenamor]: _/tell_ yeah dude we really needed another tank today, thanks a lot!!  
[PiGForce]: _/tell_ thanks, i had fun too  
[PiGForce]: even if the support was the pits…  
[sirenamor]: xDDD  
[_HUNK_]: yeah… let’s try not to get queued up w/ them again  
[sirenamor]: kk, but I only got time for one more until I get kicked off to bed TAT  
[_HUNK_]: no worries bro, me and PiG can sweep up for you ;)  
[PiGForce]: don’t call me pig!  
[sirenamor]: oink oink  
[PiGForce has challenged sirenamor to a duel.]  
[PiGForce has challenged sirenamor to a duel.]  
[PiGForce has challenged sirenamor to a duel.]  
[_HUNK_]: hahahaha you brought this on yourself  
[PiGForce has challenged sirenamor to a duel.]  
[PiGForce has challenged sirenamor to a duel.]  
[sirenamor]: :(((( huuuunnnkkk  
[PiGForce has challenged sirenamor to a duel.]  
[PiGForce has challenged sirenamor to a duel.]  
[_HUNK_]: ok then, what should we call you?  
[PiGForce has challenged sirenamor to a duel.]  
[sirenamor]: GFORCE  
[sirenamor]: PGF  
[sirenamor]: forcy??  
[PiGForce]: pidge. call me pidge ok  
[PiGForce]: all of those are terrible  
[sirenamor]: I’m a master of my craft!  
[sirenamor]: go ahead and put us in the queue… this will be over shortly :3c  
[sirenamor has accepted PiGForce’s challenge.]  
[_HUNK_]: FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT  
[sirenamor]: ENGUARDE MY GOOD SIR  
[PiGForce]: game on bitch  
[_HUNK_]: best rando matchup ever!!

* * *

**_I-80 W, Mile Marker 54, WY – Thu, Nov 22, 2018, 10:12 AM MST_ **

It was a good thing Matt was distracted in the front with singing along to old nineties rock and egging Shiro into joining his carpool karaoke. If he had been able to see what she was getting into, he would be more than just whiny uncomfortable like he was when she hacked into Hunk’s school portal.

 _Why_ was a police station’s database less defended than a school, anyway?

She trawled through the export she had pulled from the Auburn Police Department’s incident report database of the last few days. It was a pretty small town, so there wasn’t much – a few car accidents, a B&E or two, some domestic incidents. None of those were in the neighborhood Lance said Hunk lived in, though, and didn’t involve anyone matching what she thought was Hunk’s basic description. That didn’t really surprise her – she knew Hunk’s dad was a cop, and from what she had heard of the guy, he didn’t seem the type to air his family affairs at work. The only missing persons report from the last week was an elderly man with dementia who had been found a neighborhood away – definitely not Hunk.

(She had already glanced through the local paper’s obituaries, heart jumping in her throat at every scroll. No one younger than forty-five was in them since October, so she got to close _that_ tab, thank God.)

Since she hit a dead end with the incident reports (and she would _really_ have to have a word with their DBA, like who _organizes_ information like that? She knew government work was bad but _sheez_ ), she dug around a bit more in their servers for anything else useful before she tunneled out. Oh, personnel files, nice.

It took more of a memory stretch than she would care to admit to remember Hunk’s last name, but once she did she tabbed down to the G’s. The police force matched the town in size, with barely fifty office on the payroll, so it wasn’t hard to figure out which one was Hunk’s dad. Eric. Normal enough name. She scrolled across the row – veteran status checked, married, forty six years old, no record of disciplinary action, start date only in July of this year, race Asian/Pacific Islander, dependents-

Pidge closed out of _everything_ , shutting down her machine for good measure, and shoved it in her backpack, zipping it up tight. Nope. She wasn’t ready for that.

She reached around to where Matt had shed his outer layer, pulling it out from behind him, then tugged on Shiro’s undone overcoat until he noticed and laughed, lifting up a little so she could slide it out. “Cold?” he asked. She shrugged.

“Naptime.” She folded Matt’s windbreaker against the window and pulled her fur-lined hood up for extra protection, pillowing against it as she stretched out her legs on the bench seat and draped Shiro’s too-big coat over her as a blanket. She wriggled to settle in, screen protector glasses falling off her head into her hood. “Have fun being white boys.”

“Pidgey! Shiro’s not _white!_ ” But Shiro just laughed and kept screaming along with the new metal, not really helping Matt’s point. Pidge turned her back on them, hiding her phone between the seat and her door-squished hood, opening Discord to try and erase the datatables scrolling in her mind.

* * *

**_Discord – Voltron Coalition – #kidz-korner🔒 – Thu, Nov 22, 2018. 10:16 AM MST_ **

**PiGForce** _Today at 10:16 AM  
_ We’re almost thru WY, where you guys @?

 **sirenamor** _Today at 10:20 AM_  
Just got to El Paso  
Keith woke me up to answer this I hope you’re happy

 **PiGForce** _Today at 10:20 AM_  
Extremely  
I did some snooping and can confirm: Hunk is definitely not reported dead or missing

 **sirenamor** _Today at 10:20 AM  
_ Is that supposed to make me feel better?

 **PiGForce** _Today at 10:21 AM  
_ Well it means dad isn’t using the official arm of the law to track him down, at least

 **sirenamor** _Today at 10:21 AM_  
Guess that’s true  
No he hasn’t texted me back yet

 **PiGForce** _Today at 10:22 AM  
_ Figured, otherwise you’d be screaming @ me

 **sirenamor** _Today at 10:22 AM_  
Lol  
Oh yeah do you want my actual number? I think our trip will take up to places no 4G LTE has gone before…

 **PiGForce** _Today at 10:24 AM_  
Wow, it’s your good idea of the day  
Congrats on meeting your quota

 **sirenamor** _Today at 10:24 AM  
_ So mean :((((

 **PiGForce** _Today at 10:24 AM  
_ 3195556936

 **sirenamor** _Today at 10:26 AM  
_ Kk, just texted u

 **PiGForce** _Today at 10:26 AM_  
👍  
Shiro and matt are bonding over new metal save me

 **sirenamor** _Today at 10:26 AM  
_ Wow that’s some white boy nonsense

 **PiGForce** _Today at 10:27 AM_  
I KNOW RIGHT??  
VID_-1582240887.mp4

 **sirenamor** _Today at 10:29 AM_  
Holy shit that’s hot  
Also: super white boy

 **PiGForce** _Today at 10:30 AM_  
Ignoring the first part  
But yes, even tho shiro is Not White(TM) it’s the most white boy thing I’ve seen since my classmate wore cargo shorts in a snowstorm last year

 **sirenamor** _Today at 10:31 AM  
_ I don’t understand the midwest

 **PiGForce** _Today at 10:31 AM_  
No one does  
They’re talking about creed vs papa roach plz save me

 **sirenamor** _Today at 10:33 AM_  
Lololol  
Keith likes old beardy country guys no takebacks  
Or cute twinks, I can’t really tell

 **PiGForce** _Today at 10:35 AM  
_ Is this about music or gay shit

 **sirenamor** _Today at 10:35 AM  
_ Yes

 **PiGForce** _Today at 10:36 AM  
_ Aww, so you _do_ have a chance!

 **sirenamor** _Today at 10:37 AM_  
I don’t have a beard and I’m younger than him!  
AND I’M NOT A TWINK!!

 **PiGForce** _Today at 10:38 AM_  
I meant the twink part lol  
What’s that thing you keep telling me about being myself?

 **sirenamor** _Today at 10:39 AM_  
So meeaaaannn  
Why have you never been nice to me a day in my life?

 **PiGForce** _Today at 10:41 AM_  
You make it too easy  
How’s it been for you two so far?

 **sirenamor** _Today at 10:43 AM_  
Not bad actually  
I’m tired af but Keith is pretty cool once you get used to him

 **PiGForce** _Today at 10:44 AM_  
Lol  
You gonna delete that before he sees you being nice to him?

 **sirenamor** _Today at 10:45 AM_  
Nah, asshole needs to learn how to take a compliment  
We’re gonna call his mom after our lunch stop and he’s psyching himself up like his the mfucking queen herself  
I’d laugh if I wasn’t worried

 **PiGForce** _Today at 10:47 AM_  
Damn  
Boy’s got issues huh

 **sirenamor** _Today at 10:47 AM_  
I mean, water’s wet, yeah?  
Oh no, texas boy saw something he hasn’t eaten in ‘a month of Sundays’, so I guess it’s lunchtime  
He’s way more southern in person and it’s precious

 **PiGForce** _Today at 10:51 AM  
_ Get that allo shit outta here

 **sirenamor** _Today at 10:51 AM  
_ 😽😽😽

* * *

**_I-10 W, Mile Marker 160, NM – Thu, Nov 22, 2018, 11:29 AM MST_ **

“Okay, I’m pressing call… _now_. No… now!”

“Jesucristo, darky, just call your mom already!”

Keith scowled at Lance, phone clenched tight in both hands. “Don’t tell me what to do,” he growled.

“Bro, you’ve been amping yourself up for _hours,_ ” Lance shot back. “Take it from an anxiety pro, you just gotta rip off the Band-Aid and get it _over_ with.” He reached over to swipe the phone from Keith without taking his eyes off the road, but Keith twitched out of reach. Lance sighed. “ _Babe-”_

Keith honest-to-God _squeaked_. “Stop! Don’t – I’ll do it, okay?”

Lance rolled his eyes. “ _Sure_. Fine.” He flicked a glance at Keith, chewing his lip to shreds as he stared at his mom’s contact card. “You wanna put it on speaker?” he asked, forcing his tone to be softer than he felt.

Keith paused – nodded. “Yeah. Okay.” He took a deep breath through his nose, then exhaled for a good ten seconds. He hit _Call_ hard enough that Lance was surprised that the screen didn’t crack, then _Speaker_. He held the phone between them, leaning on his armrest and glaring at the ringing phone like it had murdered his mother, not called her.

The third ring cut off. “ _Oh, hanah-chi,”_ a deep alto said, its musical rasps audible even through the speaker. “ _Long time no talk._ ”

Keith swallowed, phone shaking. “Hey, Mom.” He cleared his throat. “Happy Thanksgiving.”

She laughed, a throaty chuckle. “ _And to you, too_.” An awkward pause. “ _How’s Kole doing these days?_ ”

Keith looked at Lance. “Well, see, the thing is…” The phone threatened to shake right out of Keith’s hands, so Lance gripped his wrist, holding him steady with hand-eye coordination. Keith sighed, tendons shifting under Lance’s palm. “I’m actually not in Texas right now,” he said. “Anymore. Whatever.”

A long pause. “ _Well now. Where are you, then?”_

Lance squeezed Keith’s wrist. Keith nodded at him. “Just into New Mexico. We’re – there’s a friend in trouble in California, and we’re going to help him out.” He laced his free hand over Lance’s, rough fingers slotting between Lance’s knuckles to leave white marks on his own skin. He knocked his forehead into the top of his phone case, hiding his face behind it. “M’sorry I’ll miss you later,” he muttered, almost too quiet for Lance to catch. “I know you were planning on coming to Houston for Christmas.”

“ _Plans can change, sweetheart._ ” She sighed. “ _You’re going to be out there that long, huh?_ ”

Keith shrugged. “Maybe not there, but with him, yeah.”

“ _You said ‘we’._ ” Keith’s grip tightened. “ _You got some friends going with you on this mission from God?_ ”

Keith nodded against the phone, not taking the bait of her almost-laughing tone. “Yeah. He’s driving right now, actually.” He flipped the phone so the screen faced Lance, forehead pressed to the other end of his phone. “Say hi, Lance.”

Lance gave his best smile to brighten his tone even as his hand was losing circulation. “Hi there, Ms. Keith’s Mom! Nice to meet you – well, sort of! I’m Lance!”

She chuckled. “ _Hello, Lance. You keeping him out of trouble?_ ”

Lance laughed. “Trying to! He’s a handful!” Keith hissed and yanked away from Lance’s hand. Lance loosened his grip, but kept his fingers hooked around burn scars. “How’s your Thanksgiving going?” he asked.

“ _Oh, I’m just spending it at a friend’s. They always make me stop by when I’m in the area._ ”

“What _state_ are you in?” Keith snapped, shoulders curling in. Lance stroked his thumb along the back of his wrist, little light circles. Keith sighed, hair waving over the phone screen and the _Mom_ contact card.

“ _Tennessee for now, but I’ll be heading north soon. There’s a rally some old friends are organizing where they need my help._ ” Circle, circle, circle. “ _Are you two gonna be driving_ all _day?_ ” she asked, chuckle bubbling underneath. “ _It’s Thanksgiving, hanah-chi.”_ The endearment, obviously not English so maybe Korean, made Keith twitch every time she said it in her low radio voice.

“Our friend’s in _trouble_ ,” Keith bit out, face still hidden behind his phone and his hair and his arm when Lance glanced away from the road. “We gotta get there ASAP, he hasn’t answered his phone in a while and…” He grabbed at Lance’s hand again. “We’re worried about him.”

She hummed as Keith scrambled for a hold on Lance. “ _That’s good_ ,” she said. “ _It’s good to be worried about your friends. You do what you need to do, okay? I’ll be right here when it’s done._ ” Keith exhaled, hot breath over Lance’s knuckles. “ _And I want to hear how it falls out, okay?_ ”

Keith nodded. “Yeah. Okay.”

“ _Hmm? What?_ ” she asked, a distant voice on her end echoing back. She sighed. “ _I’m so sorry, hanah-chi, but they want me back at the table. Thanks for calling, it was nice to hear from you.”_

Keith nodded again. “Yeah.”

“ _We’ll talk soon, okay? Love you, and good luck – and watch out for him, Lance!”_

“Sure thing, ma’am!” Lance replied with stubborn pep. He let go of the wheel for a second to hang up, pushing aside some of Keith’s hair to find the button. Keith didn’t move, shoulders hitching just a little more than normal breathing. Lance frowned and checked his mirrors – no one behind them for a good while. He slowed down and pulled over to the shoulder, the double rumble strips jerking Keith a little, but not enough for him to let Lance’s hand go or let him see his face.

When the car coasted to a stop in the dust on the side of the highway, Lance put it into park awkwardly with his left hand, turning the flashers on for good measure, then carefully pulled Keith’s phone out of his grip. “Babe,” he said, slow and easy. Keith’s fist clenched in his hair. “Babe, I need you to look at me.”

Keith looked up at Lance, eyes red through the wild black screen of hair. Lance brushed it away, fingers combing through it. Keith didn’t growl at him or slap him away, but heaved a wet exhale, eyelashes fluttering. Lance bit the inside of his cheek, thumb still rolling slow circles into Keith’s forearm. “It’s okay,” he whispered in the quiet car. “I’m right here. You’re here. It’s all just fine.”

Keith clenched his eyes shut and pressed his cheek into Lance’s palm hard. Coarse black hairs, caught in his fist, drifted in the light breeze from the air conditioning. He swallowed. “She… she always says she’s right there,” he breathed; Lance had to lean in to listen. “But she hasn’t been anywhere close to Texas in – in ages.” He turned more into Lance’s hand, teeth bared. “I thought it would feel better to give her a taste of her own medicine,” he whispered, “But it just tastes like cough syrup.”

“Oh, honey.” Lance’s throat clenched up. He scratched his hand through Keith’s hair up to the back of his head, then pulled him in close. It was awkward with their seatbelts still on and the armrests and center console between them, but it was enough for Keith to let go of his stranglehold on Lance’s hand and clench his fingers in Lance’s sweatshirt, hiding his face in Lance’s shoulder. Lance didn’t know any of the story between Keith and his mom – obviously she had been absent his entire childhood, and seemed to be keeping up that pattern in adulthood, but he had nothing as to why or how that came to be. All he knew was that Keith, emotionally constipated as he was and a sworn non-crier at both _Bambi_ and _Old Yeller_ , was hiding his face in a growing damp spot on Lance’s hood and threatening to rip new holes right through the Miami logo on his chest.

Lance’s other arm came around to hug Keith proper. “It’s okay, babe,” he pressed to Keith’s hair. “I’ve got you.”

And Keith let go.

* * *

**_iMessages – Thu, Nov 22, 2018, 11:58 AM MST_ **

From: Keith K  
Do you still have your license to kill  
Thu, Nov 22, 11:58 AM

From: Shiro  
Never had one, kk  
  
Is it Lance?  
Thu, Nov 22, 12:01 PM

From: Keith K  
Liar  
Thu, Nov 22, 12:01 PM

From: Keith K  
Yes  
Thu, Nov 22, 12:01 PM

From: Keith K  
He saw too much and now must die  
Thu, Nov 22, 12:02 PM

From: Shiro  
What happened?  
Thu, Nov 22, 12:03 PM

From: Keith K  
I called my mom  
Thu, Nov 22, 12:04 PM

From: Shiro  
Oh no… U ok?  
Thu, Nov 22, 12:05 PM

From: Keith K  
I dunno  
Thu, Nov 22, 12:06 PM

From: Keith K  
Lance was… really good abt it  
Thu, Nov 22, 12:08 PM

From: Keith K  
And now he’s talking to his mom and trying really hard to be nice to me and I hate it shiro make it stop  
Thu, Nov 22, 12:10 PM

From: Shiro  
Murder is not the solution, padawan  
Thu, Nov 22, 12:11 PM

From: Keith K  
Why not  
Thu, Nov 22, 12:11 PM

From: Keith K  
He’ll never let me live it down I know it  
Thu, Nov 22, 12:11 PM

From: Keith K  
You have to kill him now before it’s too late  
Thu, Nov 22, 12:12 PM

From: Shiro  
You need to calm down. Breathe.  
  
Lance is a better guy than that. You know that.  
Thu, Nov 22, 12:14 PM

From: Keith K  
Doubtful  
Thu, Nov 22, 12:15 PM

From: Keith K  
He hugged me, shiro. Take the shot.  
Thu, Nov 22, 12:16 PM

From: Shiro  
Wow. And you let him?  
Thu, Nov 22, 12:17 PM

From: Keith K  
It was a moment of weakness.  
Thu, Nov 22, 12:17 PM

From: Shiro  
Impressive. Didn’t know Lance was related to steve Irwin.  
Thu, Nov 22, 12:18 PM

From: Keith K  
Shut up  
Thu, Nov 22, 12:18 PM

From: Shiro  
Tell him he’s now a member of a very exclusive club  
Thu, Nov 22, 12:19 PM

From: Keith K  
SHUT UP  
Thu, Nov 22, 12:19 PM

From: Shiro  
Lol  
  
Seriously, I’m glad he was there for you. I know that’s never easy, and he’s a good emotional support friend. Don’t put a hit on him.  
Thu, Nov 22, 12:21 PM

From: Keith K  
:/  
Thu, Nov 22, 12:21 PM

From: Keith K  
Maybe pidge will do it  
Thu, Nov 22, 12:21 PM

From: Shiro  
Keith.  
  
No.  
Thu, Nov 22, 12:22 PM

* * *

**_I-80 W, Mile Marker 89, UT – Thu, Nov 22, 2018, 12:22 PM MST_ **

“Who you texting over there, smiley?”

Shiro clicked his phone screen dark and shrugged. “Just Keith. Talking him off a ledge again.”

Matt laughed. “You have weird taste in juniors, man.”

Pidge sighed from the back, kicking her thick wool socks upon the center console. “What did Lance do _now_ , call him hot to his face?”

Shiro snorted. “No. Well, not yet, maybe.” He clicked his screen on again – no new notifications. “He called his mom, which never goes well, and apparently Lance is being ‘too nice about it’.”

“Wait, Keith _has_ a mom? I always thought he was raised by wolves and a sentient car engine,” Pidge said. Matt snickered. “What, is she a bitch or something?”

Shiro shook his head. “Nah, just… not around much. She was in prison most of his life, so-”

“She _what?_ ” Pidge screeched, swinging forward to pin wide eyes on him. Shiro winced.

“Ah, shit, I shouldn’t have said that.” Pidge shook his arm, high-pitched humming escaping her clenched teeth. “Stop, stop, I don’t even know _why!_ ” he laughed, shaking with her. “All I know is that his dad took him home from there and raised him until he died when Keith was in middle school sometime. She didn’t come back around until a while after that.”

Pidge collapsed against his chair and his arm, almost sobbing with the information overload. “Oh my _God_ ,” she wept. “Oh my _God!_ ”

“Never mind, Keith is _exactly_ your type of protégé,” Matt laughed. “He’s got too many trust layers, too, seems like.”

Shiro flipped him off. “Fuck off, dude.”

“ _Shiro!_ ” Pidge shook his chair hard enough to rattle his teeth. “Why am I just _now_ finding out about jail baby Keith? It explains _so much!_ ”

Shiro sat forward so the chair rattling didn’t shake his stump out of his arm. “He really doesn’t like to talk about it,” he explained, clicking at his phone’s power button compulsively. “I only know because he met her right around when I was recruiting at his high school.” He turned to face Pidge, waiting until she looked at him with glee brimming over hazel to say, “Please don’t mention this to him. His mom stuff really fucks with his head – it’s bad enough that Lance knows it now, but I don’t know what he’ll do if he knows _two_ people found out in the same day.” He waved his phone. “He almost put a hit out on lance for it, and he was at least half-serious.”

Pidge pouted, slouching against his chair so her cheek squashed her eye closed. “Oh, _fine_. You’re such a spoilsport.” He bopped her head with his phone, and she poked him in the side in retaliation. “So he was _really_ born in _jail?_ ”

“Yes,” Shiro said, “and if I see the words ‘jail baby’ _anywhere_ on the server, I swear-”

“Chillax, bro, I _got_ it.” Pidge sat back with a bounced and a sigh. “Well, at least they haven’t killed each other yet,” she said, crossing her arms and kicking her feet back up. “I didn’t expect them to make it out of Texas without at least one fist fight.”

“Yeah… I’ve never met someone Keith could stand for more than a few hours, especially in a confined space and with this amount of stress.”

“Lance is like rubber, he can bounce back from anything.” Pidge’s foot nudged Shiro’s elbow. “Hey, change the music. I’m tired of this white boy nonsense.”

“Oh yeah?” Matt asked, flipping down the rear view to raise an eyebrow at her. “And what would _you_ prefer?”

Pidge grinned. “Oh, you _know_ what time it is.” Matt laughed, tabbing the mirror back up and fiddling with his phone between road glances. She tucked her feet between Shiro’s side and the console. “You a musical guy, Shiro?”

“What-” A blast of sound cut him off, the Holt siblings screaming along with it. Shiro pressed his hand to his ear and squinted against it until the chanting fell into the familiar cadence of the _Lion King_ ’s opening number, but different somehow, with the siblings singing along with every non-English syllable. He laughed and mouthed along, hand playing with the fraying hem of Pidge’s jeans.

* * *

**_Auburn, CA – Thu, Nov 22, 2018, 11:45 AM PST_ **

It was a little too early to tell, but Hunk might have a new favorite hiding spot in this town.

Sal’s place turned out to be a hole in the wall neighborhood diner/takeout restaurant, the building itself a little rickety, but the smell of warm grease and laughter was baked into its walls. It wasn’t officially open for the holiday, so Sal was using the locked door as an excuse to do some deep cleaning, the staff members in street clothes and rubber gloves stopping in to say hi and pick a thing or two to clean. It didn’t take long to learn that Sal had a habit of picking up strays, each of them with their own story of the gutter Sal had plucked them out of and how they got to where they were now.

The constant stream of stories cracked open the lid Hunk had been keeping on his own, leaking out in complaints about cops with the fry cook and asshole siblings with a waitress as they scrubbed black oil out of the oven on their knees with toothbrushes in the rather haphazard kitchen. It was fun – not like how Lance or Keith had painted having coworkers and a job to be like at all.

Even better than yesterday’s morning work, most of this team spoke English, so he wasn’t prepared when a new girl plopped down next to him with a “¿Hola! Qué tal?”

Hunk winced and laughed. “Sorry, dude, I’m not Latino or anything,” he explained as he scoured the greasepan from under the oven. “And you don’t wanna hear me try Spanish if we don’t need to.”

The new girl laughed, slapping his shoulder. “Ah, that’s too bad! I was hoping I’d have someone to talk shit with now!” She flipped her locs from her face with a winning grin – she couldn’t be that much older than Hunk, with good cheekbones and crooked glasses. “So, if you’re not one of us, then what are ya?”

“ _Nadia_ ,” the blonde waitress hissed from the floor where she was scrubbing the baseboards. “Don’t be _rude!_ ”

“ _Whaaat?_ I get it all the time, too! It’s _way_ less annoying to dance around it and just go head-in – right?” The last bit was directed at Hunk with a raised eyebrow and a glasses fidget. Hunk shrugged, still scouring.

“Depends, I guess. But I’m not a ‘usual’ mix, so if I don’t wanna have a long conversation about it, I just let them think what they think.” He grinned. “My accent usually scares them off before long.”

Nadia shuddered. “Ugh, Halloween’s _over_ , don’t try to scare me like that.” She handed him one of the bottled waters she had brought over, tossing another one down to the waitress and cracking open the third for herself as she hopped up to perch on the counter. “So. Question’s still standing, boyo.”

Hunk took a long drink of water to buy him some time. Eh, might as well. He resurfaced and said, “Well, my mom’s Filipino, and my – my dad’s Samoan.”

Nadia whistled. “Oh yeah? That’s cool. I see it.”

Hunk grinned at her. “Yeah, I get that a lot.” He shrugged, turning to lean back against the sink to finish his water and face them both. “I was born and raised here in the States, though – never even been back to visit. Flights are expensive shit.” Nadia raised her bottle in a toast to that. The waitress, now cross-legged on the hardwood, nodded behind her own water. He sighed. “Anyway. That’s me.”

“That’s a sight more interesting than me and my black mom, Guatemalan dad story, I’ll give you that.” Nadia kicked his side, only the white toe of her Converse making contact. “Sorry if I was a dick about it.”

He smiled. “No worries, it’s all good.”

The waitress raised her hand from the floor, blinking up at them with her crystal eyes and dark freckles. “I’m white.”

Nadia burst into cackles, doubling over hard enough that she teetered on the edge of the counter. Hunk juggled his water so he could snatch the back of her flannel, sympathy-laughing along.

“I- Ina, you’re _too much_ sometimes,” she gasped, slapping her knee. Ina just blinked some more, hand dropping back to her lap. Nadia sprang back up and downed the rest of her water, crushing the flimsy bottle and tossing it into a random half-filled garbage bag. “Welp, time to get back to work,” she groaned, hopping off the counter. “Sooner we finish, the sooner we can eat.”

“But Miss Candace’s turkey is dry,” Ina said. Nadia barked a laugh and held out her hands for Ina to take, hauling her back to her feet.

“But it’s free, so who cares?” She slapped Hunk’s arm with the back of her hand. “You’re coming by later, yeah?”

He grinned around the mouth of his water bottle. “Yeah. Sal invited me.”

“ _Sweet_.” She grabbed the fullest of the garbage bags, throwing it over her shoulder with a grunt. “Makin’ a trash run,” she said with a salute and a wink. “Hold down the fort for me.”

Ina saluted, formal and stone-faced. “Roger that.” Nadia hip-checked Hunk as she slipped past, hitting him with the trash bag as collateral damage.

Ina patted Hunk’s elbow as they watched Nadia wrestle the bag out of the back door it didn’t quite fit through. “Don’t take it personally,” Ina said. “Nadia never learned self-control. It’s why she dropped out of med school.”

“ _I heard that!_ ” Nadia called from the other side of the trash bag. Hunk shook his head and went to help her.

It may not be his family, but at least he wouldn’t be bored for Thanksgiving this year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> {A/N: Keith's mom is actually saying 강아지 (gang-aji), but Lance doesn't speak Korean so he doesn't know that. It means 'puppy' and is a common enough term of endearment.}


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> {A/N: GAY ~~RIGHTS~~ KNIVES BABY
> 
> The knife store is a real place, even if I moved it across the state to be in this story. Check it out, it's amazing. Also I finally caved and added the real klance tag to this, because I can no longer avoid this course I'm going down anymore. [tumblr](http://carriecmoney.tumblr.com) [twitter](http://www.twitter.com/carriecmoney)}

**_Discord – Direct Message @darkwolfboy @sirenamor – Mon, Mar 12, 2018, 11:45 PM EST_ **

**sirenamor** _Today at 11:45 PM  
_ Hey darky! Long time no see :) How you been?

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 11:51 PM_  
It’s only been a week maybe  
What’s your deal

 **sirenamor** _Today at 11:52 PM_  
Ugh fine, I won’t be worried about u  
Gonna be like that…

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 11:53 PM_  
What  
Why are you worried about me?

 **sirenamor** _Today at 11:54 PM_  
Uuuh bc you dropped off the grid w no warning for a week??  
You missed the Sunday raid and you haven’t done that in months!

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 11:56 PM  
_ Shiro knew where I was

 **sirenamor** _Today at 11:57 PM_  
That’s not the same!  
We’re your friends too, you can tell us when stuff is going on!  
_sigh_ I didn’t come to yell at you, man  
I really was just worried about u

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 12:01 AM  
_ Ok.

 **sirenamor** _Today at 12:01 AM  
_ darky I s2g I’m coming to texas to strangle u RIGHT NOW

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 12:02 AM  
_ Has anyone ever told you that you’re too easy to mess with?

 **sirenamor** _Today at 12:02 AM_  
>:C  
Has anyone ever told YOU that you’re a jerk??

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 12:03 AM_  
Lots.  
I’m… sorry for worrying you, I guess  
I just had some irl stuff to sort out

 **sirenamor** _Today at 12:04 AM_  
Well I FIGURED that!  
Just warn us next time so we don’t think you died, ok?  
And don’t just tell shiro you know he doesn’t say anything ever

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 12:06 AM  
_ Okay, next time I’ll be sure to stop in the middle of getting evicted to DM you that I might not make the sunday raid.

 **sirenamor** _Today at 12:07 AM_  
Thank you!!  
You have a place to stay now though?  
Omg were you on the streets??

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 12:09 AM_  
I can take care of myself  
My mom’s friend’s letting me stay in his spare room

 **sirenamor** _Today at 12:11 AM  
_ Dude…

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 12:13 AM  
_ It’s fine. I lived after all.

 **sirenamor** _Today at 12:14 AM  
_ That’s not the point! You were in trouble and you didn’t tell us!

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 12:15 AM_  
What’re you gonna do from over there, florida man?  
I handled it. It’s fine.

 **sirenamor** _Today at 12:15 AM_  
Emotional support!! I’ve got a bank acct and no rent!  
I dunno SOMETHING besides NOTHING  
Hunk and pidge and everyone else tell me when shits going down irl why won’t you??

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 12:18 AM_  
I was saving my phone battery/data?  
I don’t understand why oyu’re so mad… it wasn’t that long

 **sirenamor** _Today at 12:20 AM_  
Ugh… whatever  
Live your secret life  
See if I care  
It’s not like we’re friends or anything

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 12:23 AM  
_ Are we friends?

 **sirenamor** _Today at 12:23 AM  
_ Excuse you????

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 12:23 AM_  
Well you fight w me constantly  
And you don’t seem to like anything I do

 **sirenamor** _Today at 12:26 AM_  
Oh my god  
You’re so dense… who tf raised you

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 12:27 AM_  
My dad?  
What does that have to do with this

 **sirenamor** _Today at 12:28 AM_  
Dear god…  
Well since you need it spelled out, yes we’re friends okay??  
Yes we fight and you always know exactly what to say to piss me off, but it’s fun to fight with you and youre endearing in a rockhead way  
So don’t ever try to say we’re not friends again!! Bitch

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 12:31 AM_  
Oh. Okay.  
I don’t have a lot of friends irl so I’m not really used to it  
Sorry

 **sirenamor** _Today at 12:33 AM  
_ Town of Shocked, Population: NOT ME

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 12:33 AM_  
People are hard to read ok!  
Especially online

 **sirenamor** _Today at 12:34 AM  
_ Hmph. Didn’t think I was being subtle this time

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 12:34 AM_  
You’re never subtle  
Doesn’t this mean Hunk and Pidge and Allura are my friends, too?

 **sirenamor** _Today at 12:34 AM_  
YES!!! OH MY GOD  
NEVER TELL HUNK YOU DIDNT THINK YALL WERE FRIEND HELL CRY

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 12:36 AM_  
Hahha okay  
Hey, I gotta go to sleep, new job in the morning and stuff  
But… Thanks for worrying about me  
And I’m sorry, I guess

 **sirenamor** _Today at 12:39 AM_  
>:CCC that’s what FRIENDS DO  
Go to sleep, FRIEND

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 12:41 AM  
_ Sure. Night

* * *

**_I-10 W, Mile Marker 378, AZ – Thu, Nov 22, 2018, 2:45 PM MST_ **

“Okay, this is just – _ridiculous._ ”

Lance wrenched the wheel hard to the left, barely staying in the lane against the windstorm buffeting them sideways. “I’ve driven in – _hurricanes_ ,” he said through grit teeth. “How is this _worse?_ ”

“American weather contains multitudes,” Keith said with a shrug. He watched the sand blow across the interstate in dense clouds. “This is pretty bad, though. We should try to find a place to hide until it blows over, maybe.”

“Hide _where?”_ Lance let go of the wheel to gesture at the empty everything and almost lost control, cursing as he dragged his girl back in line. “You wanna dig a hole and bunker in, cowboy?”

Keith snorted. “That’d take too long.” He pulled up Maps on his phone and started to scroll down the highway. “There’s an exit in a few miles…” He zoomed in on the buildings there, frowning as it spun its circles. “Damn data’s slow as molasses out here,” he grumbled.

“ _Damn_ , you’re cute.” Keith’s map jerked just as it finished spinning. Lance didn’t notice, too busy fighting the wind to pay attention to anything inside the car. “Is there like, a tornado shelter or something there? I feel like we’re about to visit Oz instead of California, and I don’t have a cute dog _or_ ruby slippers.”

Keith cleared his throat. “Hold onto your pigtails, drama queen,” he said as he scrolled back to the exit. “There’s probably a gas station or-” He blinked as the label for the gray rectangle popped up. “Holy shit.” He whipped to stare at Lance’s profile. “We _have_ to stop.”

“What, _now?_ ”

“No, when we get there, idiot. Shit, Thanksgiving-” He double-checked the hours. “Holy _shit_ , it’s still open for another hour.” He grabbed at Lance’s sleeve. “ _Si,_ you _have_ to take me there!”

“Whoa, buddy!” Lance said through a laugh. “Take you _where?_ ” Keith shoved his phone in Lance’s face. “Wha- _oh_ my _God_. How?”

“Who _cares?_ ” He gripped Lance’s elbow hard. “ _Take me there_.”

Fifteen windswept minutes later, Lance parked his baby girl in the lee of the only building at the exit. “I cannot _believe_ this,” Lance breathed, staring up at the painted letters facing the highway. “There’s no _way_ this is real.”

Keith couldn’t keep the grin off his face. “Oh, you _better_ believe it,” he said, kicking open the car door and marching inside. Lance scrambled to follow, hair and clothes whipped around by the freezing wind, sand biting all their exposed skin. Keith didn’t care, yanking open the front door and forcing his way inside.

He stopped on the doormat, the glory before him overwhelming his motor skills. Lance crowded in behind him, hands resting on Keith’s shoulders. “Wow. ‘Knife City Outlet’ sure does live up to its name.” Keith sniffed. Lance laughed, squeezing Keith’s shoulders. “You need a minute, babe?”

Keith shoved him off. “M’fine,” he growled, voice cracking. He stomped his way over to the first display case, Lance trailing behind him with a smirk.

The entire store really was a beautiful sight. Black and white checkered tiles spread forever under a maze of glass counters, the displays and the walls and every vertical space taken up with blades of all shapes and sizes. Keith stared at the replica swords hanging behind the counter, vision misting over.

“Hey there! Can I help you?”

Lance came up beside Keith, nudging him with his elbow until he looked away from the incredible view to the smiling older white lady on the other side of the counter. “Looking for something in particular?” she asked.

Keith opened his mouth. “Uh…”

Lance slung his arm around his shoulders, leaning hard into his side. “Sorry, ma’am, my friend here is just a little obsessed with sharp pointy things. Got any of those?”

She laughed. “Yeah, just a few.” Keith wiped at his face with his fist. “How about I let you two wander, and you yell if you need something, huh?”

“Sounds great!” Lance winked at her, warm against Keith’s side. “And sorry for intruding on your holiday solitude!”

She waved him off. “Behind here’s better than dealing with my sisters-in-law, trust me.” She gestured behind her. “I’ll be in the office, but door’s open, a’ight? My name’s Peggy, just holler it and I’ll be there.”

Lance flashed her a thumbs-up. “Awesome, perfect, thanks!” she waved and went back to the paper-filled closet she had come from. Lance steered Keith down one of the glass case aisles, arm almost too hot around him. “Okay, samurai,” he muttered almost in Keith’s ear. “We’ve got at least an hour to explore. Where do you want to start?”

Keith swallowed, eyes flicking over everything. “I want to hold Anduril,” he whispered, staring at the _Lord of the Rings_ wall lineup again.

Lance chuckled, rumbling through Keith. “You’re such a fucking nerd.” He turned to yell over their middle shoulders, arm tightening around Keith with the motion. “Oh, uh, Miss Peggy?” he called. “Sorry to bother you, but…”

Keith stayed in the safe circle of Lance’s arm as Lance haggled with the lady, bartering with her for touch privileges as the wind howled around the building. If his good mood dimmed a little when Lance let go of him to accept the offered sword to present it to Keith with a haughty bow, well, he was the only one who would know that.

* * *

**_Discord – Direct Message @PiGForce @sirenamor – Thu, Nov 22, 2018, 3:15 MST_ **

**sirenamor** _Today at 3:15 PM  
_ PIDGE SOMETHING MAGICAL IS HAPPENING THAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT

 **PiGForce** _Today at 3:17 PM  
_ Dish

 **sirenamor** _Today at 3:18 PM_  
IMG_20181122_151844.jpg  
WE FOUND A KNIFE STORE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT AND I THINK KEITH JUST MET GOD

 **PiGForce** _Today at 3:20 PM_  
Holy SHIT  
Is that a gondor shield??

 **sirenamor** _Today at 3:22 PM_  
YES  
Pidge I s2g he’s crying  
He just found the bowie knife display, there are DOZENS  
This poor lady forced to work on a holiday did not sign up for this BUT I SURE DID

 **PiGForce** _Today at 3:24 PM  
_ Incredible, fucking ace

 **sirenamor** _Today at 3:24 PM_  
Look at this place it was BUILT for him!  
IMG_20181122_152504.jpg

 **PiGForce** _Today at 3:25 PM_  
Oh my christ  
I just showed shiro and he groaned for like 30 secs

 **sirenamor** _Today at 3:26 PM_  
Lol  
He keeps testing them against his own knife and I think he’s having whatever the knife version of a gay crisis is  
THEY HAVE NINJA STARS??  
I NEED 50 ASAP

 **PiGForce** _Today at 3:28 PM  
_ You’ll shoot your eye out

 **sirenamor** _Today at 3:29 PM_  
I’ll have u kno I have THE BEST hand-eye coord in the GALAXY  
Now I must prove my worth

 **PiGForce** _Today at 3:31 PM_  
If either of u show up without a finger well know why  
Where are you anyway?

 **sirenamor** _Today at 3:33 PM_  
Just into AZ  
There’s a wild ass windstorm atm so we’re hiding here until it doesn’t feel like fury road out there  
Or until she kicks us out, whichever comes last  
Brb need to prove my worth

 **PiGForce** _Today at 3:38 PM_  
Godspeed my brethren  
Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do  
Shiro says not to let keith buy another sword

 **sirenamor** _Today at 3:45 PM  
_ No promises!!

 **PiGForce** _Today at 3:47 PM  
_ [shiro voice] LANCE!!

 **sirenamor** _Today at 3:49 PM  
_ NINJA STARS, P

* * *

**_Bowie, AZ – Thu, Nov 22, 2018, 3:31 PM MST_ **

Lance never thought that watching a grown ass man play with knives would rank on his ‘adorable’ scale, but fuck it, Keith was coming close. He was practically _bouncing_ as the poor clerk lady demonstrated the different sharpening blocks they had, the metallic rhythm of her demonstration knife ringing through the empty shop. Lance never would have pegged her for a knife expert if she was walking down the street – she looked like every other sixty-something white lady he had ever met – but Keith was hanging on her every word, asking questions at a pace Lance hadn’t seen since Waffle House.

Lance left him to it and poked around the displays that weren’t behind glass, trying out grips on mean-looking hunting knives and was that an _actual_ throwing axe? They didn’t have an indoor target – Lance had already asked when he found the actual goddamn ninja stars – and the windstorm was still going strong outside the barred windows, but he needed to _try_ that one day.

He was tilting an iridescent blade to watch the rainbow move when Keith wandered up to his side. Lance hip checked him with a grin. “Hey there, samurai. Get your fill of knife talk?”

Keith shrugged. “She had to get something from the back.” Lance huffed and took the rainbow knife off its hook, holding the shiny grip around the cardboard backing.

“Look at this shit.” He held it at his eye level, mock-glaring at a flat Keith over it. “While you were being heterosexual, I was studying the blade,” he growled, voice pitched low. Keith raised one eyebrow behind stringy bangs.

“Bold of you to assume I’m heterosexual.” Lance grinned, waving the knife around to glint off the fluorescents before putting it back on its hook. Keith shot the rainbow knife a look. “I know the stuff they do to it to make it look like that means it won’t sharpen for shit, but _God_ it’s tempting…” He flipped the cardboard enough to check the price sticker on the back. “There really would be nothing like pulling out a rainbow switchblade on a homophobe.”

Lance barked out a laugh. “Whatever gets your rocks off, man.” Keith narrowed his eyes at the knife, and Lance smiled. “If you want it, you should get it. It’s not like we can just pop in this place whenever we want later.”

Keith sighed, hand falling back to his side. “But I want a _sword_ ,” he whined. “I don’t have enough cash for _both_.”

Lance rolled his eyes. “What on Earth are you gonna _do_ with a sword? You can’t exactly get a conceal and carry permit for _that_.” Keith grumbled, but didn’t back it up with words. Lance elbowed him in the arm. “C’mon, cheer up, Charlie. There’s plenty of useful but still very dangerous things in here that actually fit in a pocket. Why not load up on those instead?”

Keith grumbled some more. “I hate when you have a point.” He yanked on his bangs. “I just didn’t want to get my real sword messy,” he mumbled. Lance froze.

“Wait. Back up.” He poked Keith’s cheek (Keith growled and slapped at his hand). “You’ve had a _sword_ in my _car_ this _whole damn time_ and you _didn’t tell me?_ ” He yanked on Keith’s ponytail hard enough to pull his head back. Keith cried out and stomped on his toes in retaliation. Lance caught the attempted punch by the wrist – Keith may be a street smart scrapper, but he was such a painfully obvious only child. “Darky, _babe_ , I thought we were past this!”

Keith glared at him, face screwed up and cheeks blotchy, fist white-knuckled in Lance’s grip. “That’s – it’s not the _same_ ,” he snapped, wrenching his arm out of Lance’s hand and taking a few steps away. “It’s – it was my mom’s,” he said to the machetes under glass. “From her parents. It’s old, and short, and, well. It’s special.” He gripped the metal frame of the display case. “I’d prefer not to use it to threaten just some asshole.” He swiped at his face. “ _Fuck_ , I thought I was done with this,” he mumbled, voice trembling.

“Aww, hey.” Lance slid up beside him, leaning back on the case. “Don’t worry about it, okay?” He opened his arms. “Need a hug?”

Keith shoved at him, fighting tears and a smile. “Fuck off.”

“Make me.” Lance stuck out his tongue; Keith shoved him harder. Lance shoved him back. “Seriously, though, if you wanna intimidate Hunk’s dad, a sword might not the best way. It’s kind of silly these days, and he’s a cop and can arrest your ass.” He nodded at the long line of machetes they were leaning on. “Get something super generic so forensics can’t ID it, then let Pidge dispose of the body. He’s got all kinds of ideas on how to do it.”

Keith blinked at him. “That’s… dark.”

Lance shrugged. “Guess you’re rubbing off on me.” He looked down over his shoulder. “Maybe _I_ should get one, too… I was gonna just get some ninja stars because they’re cool, but it’d be nice to make something with a handle.”

Keith’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t have a knife?” he drawled. Lance frowned at him.

“No? Why would I?”

Keith _hmph_ ed and grabbed his arm, dragging his across the store with a mission. “Miss Peggy! Come quick!” The nice lady poked her head out of the office. “I need a good switchblade!”

“Keith, I don’t-”

Keith whipped around and grabbed Lance by the hood, glaring at him from six steamy inches away. “Every person needs a good knife,” he growled, breath fanning over Lance’s neck and raising goosebumps in its wake. “You’re _not_ leaving here without one.”

Lance gulped, palms itchy out of nowhere. “Can it have a really dumb pattern on the case?”

Keith huffed – oh shit, his nose wrinkled when he was trying not to laugh, why did Lance _notice_ that? “It can have whatever you want, it’s the inside that counts.” He let go of Lance, patting his chest as he drew away. “C’mon, let’s see what she’s got for you.” He wandered over to where the knife lady was laying out options on the table, leaving Lance flustered and warm and more than a little itchy. Lance shook himself from head to toe and followed, scratching at his palms. Maybe the rainbow knife wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

* * *

**_Discord – Direct Message @PiGForce @sirenamor – Thu, Nov 22, 2018, 4:08 PM MST_ **

**sirenamor** _Today at 4:08 PM  
_ Tell shiro he should be proud of me

 **PiGForce** _Today at 4:08 PM  
_ Debatable

 **sirenamor** _Today at 4:09 PM_  
I talked keith down to just a butterfly knife and a machete  
And some nice accessories  
And we got matching gay knives :D  
JPEG_20181122_161108.jpg

 **PiGForce** _Today at 4:12 PM_  
Omg barf  
Shiro asks: no sword tho?

 **sirenamor** _Today at 4:12 PM_  
No sword tho  
But he did get the lady’s card and they do ship…

 **PiGForce** _Today at 4:14 PM_  
And I finally have the answer to “can a human being really sound like a dying animal”  
Are you still at the demon place?

 **sirenamor** _Today at 4:15 PM_  
Lol  
Nah she just kicked us out  
But she did give us a discount so she def doesn’t hate us  
JPEG_20181122_161649.jpg  
GAY KNIIIIVES

 **PiGForce** _Today at 4:19 PM_  
BARRRFFF 🤮🤮  
Does this mean you’re gay now keep scrolling?

 **sirenamor** _Today at 4:21 PM_  
Still bi  
But they had trump merch in there I wasn’t about to ask for pride flag swag lmao  
She was very nice but we did NOT call them ‘gay knives’ in her earshot  
Wind’s still a fucking disaster tho, like come on this is the DESERT would u STOP IT  
So we might stop again in a bit

 **PiGForce** _Today at 4;35 PM_  
Kk  
We’re starting to hit real snow but my girl’s got snow tires

 **sirenamor** _Today at 4:42 PM  
_ Barrrffff

 **PiGForce** _Today at 4:48 PM  
_ Weak ass southerner

 **sirenamor** _Today at 4:51 PM  
_ We can’t all be hairy dwarf warriors!

 **PiGForce** _Today at 4:55 PM  
_ Bite me

 **sirenamor** _Today at 4:57 PM_  
Ooh rest stop, finally  
I gotta pee

 **PiGForce** _Today at 4:59 PM  
_ TMI bro

 **sirenamor** _Today at 5:02 PM  
_ Just keeping u informed of our progress my dude

 **PiGForce** _Today at 5:04 PM  
_ I was gonna send you a shiro candid but now maybe I won’t

 **sirenamor** _Today at 5:05 PM_  
!!!!  
PIDGEOT DON’T BE SO MEAN TO ME

 **PiGForce** _Today at 5:09 PM_  
U o me  
JPEG_20181122_170817.jpg

 **sirenamor** _Today at 5:10 PM  
_ WHATAMAN.MP3

 **PiGForce** _Today at 5:10 PM  
_ Get out

* * *

**_I-10 W, Mile Marker 319, AZ – Thu, Nov 22, 2018, 5:11 PM MST_ **

The windstorm had died down a little by the time that they made it to the rest stop, but Lance insisted on stopping anyway to use the facilities and get a drink from the vending machine. Keith waited in one of the open air picnic shelters, flipping his new butterfly knife around to get a feel for it. She had sold him a practice knife since he had never used one before, but it could still injure him if he wasn’t careful.

“Man, I didn’t think you could get any more… you, but here I stand corrected.” Lance fell onto the picnic bench next to him, sprawling out, knee and arm brushing Keith like the desert wind. Keith stopped his knife’s spinning with a final resting position, trying not to draw attention to how he slid a little away from Lance’s manspread. Lance was too busy chugging at his vending machine water bottle, thank God, but when he came back down he held it out to Keith. “Want some?”

Keith stared at it, then at Lance’s raised eyebrows over his shadowed eyes. “Don’t you have mono or something?” he asked.

Lance gasped. “Excuse you! You could just say _no_ if you’re scared of my _germs_ -”

Keith snatched the bottle and downed the rest, maintaining narrowed eye contact the whole time. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand when he finished, handing the empty bottle back. “M’not scared,” he growled.

Lance’s eyebrows disappeared behind his ragged bangs. “I see that.” He twisted the cap back on the bottle and chunked it in the direction of the trash can on the other side of the shelter – and _made_ it. Keith made a face, gesturing at it – it hadn’t even been a rim shot, and the wind was still gusting an easy thirty miles per hour. Lance shrugged. “What?”

“ _Dude._ ”

“Huh – oh?” Lance laughed. “You know water bottles are like, the masculine chancla, right?” He caught his tongue in his teeth and mimed the wrist motion. “’sides, I got _great_ aim. It’s my thing.” Keith raised his eyebrows, and Lance winked. “Why’d you think I main Widowmaker?”

Keith shrugged. “Cause she’s the hot blue girl?” Lance opened his mouth – closed it, tapping his chin. Keith flipped his knife open while Lance thought, watching silver flash in the slanted sunlight. Lance sighed and leant back into Keith’s side, only wriggling closer as Keith stiffened and sucked in a breath. “We should – we should get back on the road,” he forced out, the engravings on his knife’s handles digging into his palm. Lance sighed.

“You’re probably right.” Lance tilted his head back to knock it into Keith’s shoulder, hair tickling Keith’s cheek. “S’kinda nice out here, though,” he mumbled. “Quiet.”

“That’s the desert for you.” Lance hummed, but didn’t reply, settling more on Keith, skinny back warm against Keith’s arm. Keith didn’t mean to, but he relaxed a little, stretching out his legs and pressing into Lance’s lean, the warmth of the top of Lance’s head just touching his temple. His eyes glazed over as he watched his knife flutter, the calming wind plucking at his clothes erratically, sand blowing over his feet. He had been alone in the desert before – it had been a rough road to Kole’s spare bedroom – so he thought he knew what to expect. The hollow place behind his ribs would crack open, dumping out its mess in spines and cheap whiskey under a too-starry sky, then he would wake up older and drive back to where he was supposed to be. But he wasn’t out here alone this time. He had someone here to hold the cracks together, listen to his silence and return in kind – just _be_ there. The hollow place shrank in Lance’s presence, and Keith was holding out on the hope that it was a good thing.

Lance slipped against his shoulder, but caught himself before he could fall to the concrete. “Ai. I’m awake.” He yawned and stretched, sitting up and taking his heat with him. He stood, stretching his arms over his head so a flash of tan stomach showed right at Keith’s eye level. “We should prob’ move on before I fall asleep for real,” he said through a yawn, teeth all showing. He came back down with a snap, straightening out his two-day-old clothes with a wince. “Damn, a shower’d be nice,” he whined.

Keith held back a teasing smile. “But dirt builds character, doncha know?” Lance pulled a face at him, and Keith couldn’t hold back a snicker. “It’s not like the rest a’them’ll be any better,” he pointed out as he stood, falling into step with Lance back to the car. “You wanna be the only one who doesn’t stink?”

“Well it’d be _nice!_ ” Lance elbowed Keith. “I don’t want my first impression to Shiro be my gross, greasy hair and eyebags!”

Keith frowned. “Shiro? Why’re you worried about him before the others?”

Lance gasped. “Because he’s _hot_ , duh! I thought you were _gay!”_

Keith bristled. “I _am_ , you-” He glared at Lance. “You think Shiro’s hot?”

Lance stared at him as he yanked open the passenger door. “That’s it, I’m revoking your gay card, effective immediately.”

“But-”

Lance cut him off with an ‘ _ah-buh-buh-buh!_ ’ and dramatic hand flailing. “Anyone who doesn’t find that jawline attractive is _not gay_. It’s like the queer bend and snap!” He slammed the door in Keith’s face, glaring at him through the window. Keith blinked a few times, then stomped around the car to the driver’s side, climbing in as Lance put the key in the ignition from his off angle.

“It’s not that – I know Shiro’s _objectively_ hot,” he grumbled as he started the engine. “But he’s – he knows too much about me, okay?” He shuddered as he backed out of the parking spot. “It’s like – like thinking your babysitter’s hot.”

“Dude, _all_ of my babysitters were hot!” He slapped Keith’s arm. “You really _are_ an alien!”

“Am _not_!”

“Oh yeah? Then who _is_ hot, if Shiro isn’t?”

Keith grit his teeth and blurted out, “Poe Dameron.”

Lance jerked – snorted – laughed, full-bodied, clutching his stomach and pressing his face to his knees. Keith slammed on the gas _hard_ as he merged back onto the highway, grinding his teeth and trying to ignore his burning ears. When Lance could breathe again, he gasped, “Not – not Oscar Isaac?”

Keith punched him. “Fuck off.”

Lance punched him back, not nearly as hard. “And what about Poe is better than Oscar, huh?”

“Fuck _off!_ ”

Lance laughed, kicking off his shoes and tucking his feet under him. “You’re so weird, babe.”

“I- stop telling me that! It’s not a _good_ thing!”

Lance patted his arm right above the elbow, hand resting on Keith’s rolled-up flannel but searing right through it. “It _is_ a good thing,” he said. “I love that you’re weird, babe. Who else would buy matching gay knives with me?” His hand fell away, and Keith could breathe again. “So. Poe Dameron, huh?”

Keith grumbled, frowning at the road ahead. “I like his hair.”

“Of course you do. You’ve got the same haircut.” Lance reached up to touch it and _nonononononono-_

Keith jerked, veering halfway into the next lane with it. Lance yelped and grabbed the armrest for balance. Keith wrenched the car back into the right lane, blood hammering as he checked all of his mirrors – they were in the clear for miles, thank God. “What was _that_?” Lance shrieked.

Keith shook his head, the hair that had escaped his ponytail falling into his eyes. “I _warned_ you not to touch me,” he growled as low and menacing as he could manage.

“Yeah, but you didn’t have to attempt vehicular manslaughter to remind me!” Lance sighed and settled back against his door, curling up as best he could. “Whatever, I’m napping. You keep on being weird.”

Keith bit his cheek and fumbled for Lance’s phone in the cupholder to start the music back up. “Whatever.” Lance grunted, and Keith’s stomach twisted.

Still, the hollow place in his chest stayed uncracked.

* * *

**_Auburn, CA – Thu, Nov 22, 2018, 4:35 PM PST_ **

Sal hadn’t been lying about how busy his brother’s place was for the holiday. Between the extended family and multicolored friends who came in and out of the cramped house, no one questioned one other face they didn’t recognize, but fixed him a plate and sat him down in the den with the other ‘kids his age’ – all of the teenagers and college kids in town, it felt like. Nadia caught him being awkward on the couch and dragged him into the fray, introducing him to her friends while the current college game blared over it all. The turkey _was_ dry, but all of the sides were amazing, so it was easy to go with the flow and get sucked into their energy.

Besides Ina, there were two other not-family older kids crashing the party, a quiet black guy with better dreads than Nadia and a white guy who Lance would probably hate if he met him. Hunk didn’t mind his aloof air, though, so Hunk came along easy enough when pie was done and the four of them went to the backyard with an old football someone found under the couch. A few other people had escaped the house to chat on the patio, but it was quieter in the autumn chill as they arranged in a rough star and passed the ball around with no pattern, the friends chatting in the same manner. Sometimes one of them would prompt Hunk into contributing, but not enough that it felt forced. It was a good time, the feel of old leather slapping into his palms grounding him.

“So, Hunk.” The white dude – James, maybe – asked as he passed to Hunk. “Where you headed after here?”

Hunk swallowed, good mood shot with a cold jet. “I- I’m not sure.” He bit his cheek, throwing the ball around the star to Nadia. “Sal mentioned he’d like me to come by his place to work the morning shift, so-”

“Oh God, you’re _not_ spending the night at his place! His guest room _reeks_!” Nadia tossed the ball underhand to Ina, slouching on the spot. “Man, you’re coming back with us, for sure!”

Hunk glanced between them. “You… sure?”

“Well duh! We got a house a few streets over, and the couch is nice.” She took the ball back from Ina and beamed it at the black guy’s chest, who caught it easily. She pouted. “Ryan, you’re okay with that, right?” Ryan nodded, spinning the ball in the air. Nadia grinned at him. “See? We’ll go home, watch the Saints beat the Falcons, and pass out in a food coma until work tomorrow.” She tossed her locs over her shoulder and ran back into the house, calling over her shoulder, “I’ll just tell Sal and we’ll blow this joint!” She banged open the sliding glass door yelling into the chaotic house, “ _Hey Sal!_ ”

Hunk jerked a thumb at her last known location. “Does she always…”

“Run around like a crazy person who doesn’t know what manners are?” Ina shrugged. “You get used to it.”

James caught the last pass from Ryan. “C’mon, let’s go pay our dues and get out of here, I need a beer.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and sauntered to the open glass door, Ina meandering after him.

Ryan came up beside Hunk and put his hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay,” he said in a low voice – wait, had Hunk actually heard him speak before this? “We’ve all been lost at some point before. We got your back.” He patted Hunk’s shoulder, then moved on with the rest of his crew. Hunk rubbed his arms against the creeping twilight. Well, a couch was better than a church cot. He pulled his (kinda dirty) hoodie sleeves over his palms and went back into the fray, closing the door behind him.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> {A/N: So MARCH happened. I'm pushing through this one, I swear, I'm gonna finish it. [twitter](http://www.twitter.com/carriecmoney) [tumblr](http://carriecmoney.tumblr.com)}

**_Skype – Conversation with PiGForce, shiro – Wed, Feb 10, 2016, 8:21 PM CST_ **

Shiro  
hey :) tell your bro congrats on the promotion

PiGForce  
tell him yourself bitch  
he’s so obnoxious about it and mom’s such an enabler  
he’s making ME call him sergeant  
I now understasnd fred and george and prefect pinhead

Shiro  
haha, he’ll get over it right around getting bumped to ssg

PiGForce  
Uuuugghhhh

Shiro  
he going for his ewo training?

PiGForce  
ASK HIM YOURSELF  
but yes  
not sure when he starts yet  
he says to rub it in your face that he officially outranks u now

Shiro  
true… but mine is cooler

PiGForce  
Hah! Burn  
Are u still stationed in montana?

Shiro  
no, Im down in arkansas now

PiGForce  
man they need to let you sit still for like 5 mins maybe

Shiro  
haha, I don’t mind too much, keeps me busy  
see new people and all that

PiGForce  
still  
@ least matt’s still in iowa  
you couldn’t pay me to enlist

Shiro  
unfortunately you’re in the minority there  
it’s a little terrifying how small the forces would be if we had free college

PiGForce  
terrifying and sad  
universal education when

Shiro  
raise a glass  
at least my students want to be there lol

PiGForce  
teach me to diffuse a bomb shiro  
CUT THE RED WIRE

Shiro  
I’ve told you wire colors don’t matter before I know it  
maybe if I ever swing through iowa I’ll drop in and lead a holt private workshop:)

PiGForce  
yessss  
dad’ll love it  
mom’ll hate it  
it’s perfect

Shiro  
hahaha it’s a date then

PiGForce  
Ew

Shiro  
grow up baby

PiGForce  
trying to, but genetics keep getting in my way >:(  
why did matt get all the tall people stuff  
shower brb

Shiro  
kk  
make good choices

PiGForce  
:|

* * *

**_Mystic, CA – Thu, Nov 22, 2018, 6:55 PM PST_ **

“Let’s _not_ stop in Reno, he said. It’s only six, he said. It’s barely dark, he said!”

“Look, how was I to-”

“The road won’t be that icy, he said! It’s the _interstate_ , he said!” Pidge kicked a snowdrift in the ratty motel parking lot, showering Matt’s calves in dirty snow. “And then we’re _barely_ into California-”

“I _know,_ okay? I’m sorry! But your snow tires _suck!_ ” Shiro rolled his eyes and headed towards the hand-carved sign for the _Mystic Inn_ hanging over the front door. For being one of the only buildings in radio reach, it was large and pretty, hewn out of some golden-toned wood and tucked in between some snowy ponderosas and a dip in the mountains. Maybe at better times of the year it attracted hikers on their way in and out of Tahoe National Forest, but now they were the only car in the parking lot that wasn’t a beat-up pickup.

Shiro pushed open the double doors, the squabbling siblings trailing behind. The desk was empty, but the ruckus of a rowdy bar echoed from the open door on the right. Shiro poked his head in – a crew of dirty locals and a few dogs lounged around the bar, talking shit as the solo bartender ran around trying to service them all at once, the warm light from the old light fixtures and the same gold wood walls glinting off beer glasses and her silver hair. She glanced in Shiro’s direction – double-took. “ _Ah, shit,_ ” he read on her lips as she finished her current pour and slammed it down on the counter, tossing a smile and an insult at the buyer, then wiped her hands on a rag and raced out from behind the bar.

“I’m so sorry,” she said, “these boys just wouldn’t know a holiday if it kicked them in the mouth.” She swung around the desk and slapped the old computer monitor awake. “Reservations, or – oh, right, we don’t have any for the night…” She pushed her flyaway hair out of her damp face and smiled at him, laugh lines deepening. “So! All three of you together, then?”

“Ah – yes, ma’am.” He kicked at the Holts, who were one insult away from an all-out fistfight. “Just one room, two beds is fine,” he said. “I know it’s hard to tell, but they _are_ related.”

She chuckled, eyes on her computer. “I understand, got two brothers of my own somewhere around here. Fact of the matter is, though, we’ve only got singles here, but since it’s a slow night, I’ll only charge you for the two.” She shoved some stringy gray hair out of her eyes with a distracted smile at Shiro. “Think of it as an early Christmas present.”

Shiro smiled back. “I really appreciate it, ma’am, thanks a lot.”

“Ah, sweet, a discount without breaking out the IDs? Excellent!” Matt chimed in from the back. He had Pidge secured under his arm in a polite but firm headlock, beaming at them despite her squawks and squirms. “Knew that Southern charm stuck around you for a reason!”

Shiro rolled his eyes. “Sorry about them,” he told her, waving his hands back at the Holts. “They’re nerds, they don’t understand manners.”

She chuckled. “Quite all right.” She hummed as she clicked away at her old computer nodding at one of the grungy barflys as he stumbled out of the open door towards the bathroom by the front desk. He tipped his hat at her, slightly hazy eyes flicking over the newcomers. “What kind of IDs would you boys have, anyway?” she asked.

“Military,” Matt answered. He grinned. “You prefer active duty or retired?” he asked, nudging Shiro with his free arm on the ‘retired’.

“You boys serve?” the barfly asked, leaning hard against the counter by Shiro. Shiro nodded.

 “Yessir. Been out a few years now.” He jerked his thumb back at Matt, trying to get the barfly's watery eyes off the way Shiro's right coat sleeve hung on his arm. “He’s still unlucky enough to be in.”

“Oh yeah?” the barfly asked, grin spread across his grizzled face. “Where did you serve, then?”

Shiro rubbed the back of his warm neck, stomach bubbling. “Did two tours in Afghanistan, Army Senior EOD.” He watched the barfly's face - no recognition at the acronym. A civilian who didn't know what the bomb squad's official title was, then. He forced a smile and gestured at Matt again. “He's in Army Light.”

“Hey! Don’t knock on the Guard like that!”

Shiro smirked at Matt (Pidge had given up the fight and had fallen limp in her brother’s hold, watching Shiro with a frown). “At least _I_ get to have hair now,” he joked, forcing his tone lighter than normal. Matt gasped, and Pidge snickered.

“Only cause you went and got yourself blown up – _ow!_ ” He frowned at his sister, who scowled up at him. “ _Pidgey!_ ”

“That’s enough, Matt,” she growled, quiet but not enough for Shiro not to hear.

The barfly took off his hat and held it over his flannel heart. “Thank you both for your service and sacrifice,” he said with a little bow. Shiro glanced back at Matt, whose easy grin had turned a little stale, and Pidge, who had escaped Matt’s hold and was staring at Shiro _hard_. Shiro yanked away and waved his hand at the barfly, keeping his hook firmly in his coat pocket.

“Oh, it’s – just our duty,” he stuttered out. “No need to make a deal of it.”

The barfly shook his head as he jammed his old trucker hat back over his hair. “An honor to have you ‘round these parts,” he said, not really hearing what Shiro was saying. “If you boys come down to the bar, we’ll buy you a round, got it?”

Matt perked up. “Sounds great, thanks!”

The barfly nodded at them, then at the hotel lady who was watching the interaction with a raised eyebrow and a tugging smile. “You make sure to give these boys everything they need, a’ight, Miss Anita?”

She smiled. “You know I will, George. Now get out of my hair.” He chuckled, saluting at Shiro with bad form, and wandered off to his original bathroom destination. She went back to her old monitor with a fond headshake. “They’re good boys around here,” she said, “they’re just not used to strangers this time of the year.” She made a final click and turned back to the wall of keys behind her. “You’ll be just up those stairs and to the right,” she said, gesturing at the staircase at the end of the entry hall. “Just come on down when you’re hungry and we’ll fix you up something, okay?”

Shiro forced a smile. “Sure thing, ma’am,” he lied. No way was he giving the old country white men a chance to ask him how he got his arm.

Matt paid for the rooms, making a fuss about treating Shiro even though Shiro had paid for the room the night before _and_ they had already agreed to split the costs for the trip. Pidge swiped all three keys from the counter and ran up the stairs, duffel bag thumping her leg as she cackled and taunted her stumbling brother from the top of the staircase. Shiro watched them chase each other out of sight, feeling it in his bones. “How do they still have _energy?_ ” he asked the air.

“God only knows.” She turned off the computer with a kick to the tower beneath the desk and tightened her bun. “I’ll be at the bar if you need me, sweetie.” Shiro smiled and nodded as he followed the audible chaos from upstairs, scratching under the cup of his prosthetic. Maybe he could get one of them to bring something up from the kitchen for him later.

* * *

**_Discord – Voltron Coalition – #kidz-korner🔒 – Thu, Nov 22, 2018, 7:18 PM PST_ **

**PiGForce** _Today at 7:16 PM_  
Hey  
Where you guys @?

 **sirenamor** _Today at 7:18 PM_  
The only food place open in arizona on tgiving  
JPEG_20181122_181817.jpg  
Also seen here: keith’s face when you typed ‘you guys’ instead of ‘yall’ in the gc

 **PiGForce** _Today at 7:22 PM  
_ Aah damn I could totally kill for some chicken fried steak rn… bring me some stick candy

 **sirenamor** _Today at 7:23 PM_  
Some what now  
Holy shit how is that legal  
Keith: ‘it’s called southern cooking bitch’

 **PiGForce** _Today at 7:23 PM_  
Man after my own heart  
We’re stopped in some podunk mtn town for the night, it’s too dark and icy on the road to make it out safely  
Technically in cali tho so we beat u

 **sirenamor** _Today at 7:26 PM_  
:PPP  
We’re right next to the border but it IS tgiving so we HAD to eat more than mcds

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 7:28 PM  
_ Si was sad so I had to cheer him up somehow

 **PiGForce** _Today at 7:29 PM_  
Aww, that’s gross  
We each got our own rooms bc shiro’s charm is impenetrable so I’m chilling before braving the bar downstairs  
hey _@darkwolfboy_ I have a question

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 7:30 PM  
_ Ok???

 **PiGForce** _Today at 7:31 PM  
_ How weird is shiro about ppl thanking him for his service etc

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 7:31 PM_  
Ugh  
Yeah he can be super awk w it  
He usually pretends to shrug it off and sulks in a corner the rest of the day  
Depends on how awkward the encounter was  
Did someone start smth?

 **PiGForce** _Today at 7:37 PM_  
That checks out…  
Nothing major, but I could read it on his bitch face  
Ok, go teach lance how to play pegs, I’m gonna drag him out of his shell by force

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 7:39 PM_  
Lol  
JPEG_20181122_193937.jpg  
He’s very bad at it.

 **PiGForce** _Today at 7:42 PM  
_ I’m making that my lockscreen right now

**darkwolfboy** _Today at 7:42 PM_  
Bless his heart... 

* * *

**_Mystic, CA – Thu, Nov 22, 2018, 7:46 PM PST_ **

Pidge paused at the mauve-ish painted door Shiro had claimed as his room for the night to take a deep breath, then knocked. “Hey, Shiro? You still in there?” Silence – just long enough that Pidge knew Shiro was deciding whether to ignore her or not. She narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. “Let me in, Shiro.”

“ _Fine, I’m coming._ ” The doorknob rattled before it opened enough for Shiro to poke his head out. He smiled, that tired sad thing that made Pidge want to hug him, and she didn’t _do_ hugs. “Hey, Pidge. Sorry, I’m kinda tired, so-”

“Shut up and let me in.” He blinked and stepped back, holding the door for her to stomp past him into the maroon room (hers was moss-colored and much more pleasing to the eye). Her eyes snagged on his arm laid out on the low dresser as the door clicked shut behind her. “You weren’t planning on coming down, huh.”

He sighed and sank onto the pillowy bed, scratching the back of his head. “Not… really.” He flopped back on the bed, glaring up at the wood plank ceiling. “Just… not feeling other people right now.”

Hmph. “Well, lucky for you, I’m not a person, according to Lance.” His mouth quirked. She unzipped her boots and kicked them off so she could climb onto the bed next to him, sitting cross-legged at his right shoulder. She looked over his stump – she hadn’t seen it bare before, and it looked… well, like his arm had been cut off. She twisted her fingers in the comforter. “You don’t have to talk if you don’t wanna,” she said. “But I think I know what’s bothering you.”

He glanced at her, dark eyes searching. “You do, don’t you.” His mouth quirked again. “You’re smarter than your brother, for sure.”

“Quit stating facts and get to the point.” She rolled around to lie on her stomach, grabbing one of the tasseled throw pillows to clutch. “Why don’t you like it when people recognize you for being a vet?”

Shiro closed his eyes, face pinched. “It’s not – not _just_ that, I guess. I don’t regret enlisting, and I’m not mad about where I am now. I just…” He ran his hand down his face. “I’m not a fucking hero,” he told his palm, “and I’m not your fucking _inspiration_.” A deep, watery breath. “I’m just an idiot who ran into the wrong cave,” he muttered. “And I didn’t get myself blown up, so jot that down.”

Pidge stamped down the curious tsunami welling in her, gripping her ankles against it. “Noted.”

He cracked an eye open to look at her, but clenched it shut again. “Also… there are plenty of good people in the service, sure, but there’s nothing we’re defending overseas right now that we didn’t start in the first place. So.”

“Hey now.” Pidge nudged his shoulder just above his stump with her foot, and he jumped more than the touch was worth. “We’re way too sober for existential breakdowns over our purpose in life and American imperialism.” He chuckled, a weird and startled noise. She nudged him again, and he didn’t jump this time. “C’mon. Let’s go downstairs and you can buy me a beer.”

“Illegal, Chantelle.” She stuck her tongue out at him as he sat up. “You’re probably right,” he groaned, tugging at his white-streaked hair. “No good’ll come of me moping alone.”

“That’s the spirit.” Pidge hopped off the bed in a few bounces, shoving her feet back in her boots. “Thanksgiving in a California bar is _exactly_ what my mom planned for this year.”

“Ah, shit, is that still today?” Pidge snickered as Shiro groaned, joints popping like the old man he was. “God, it’s been a long trip.”

“Yeah.” Pidge checked her phone – Keith and Lance were having an unflattering picture war in their kids’ chat, and Hunk was still offline. “Our southern halves are in a Cracker Barrel somewhere in Arizona,” she said, clicking off her phone screen and shoving it in her jeans pocket. “We can’t let them trump us in stories to tell when Voltron finally assembles.”

Shiro chuckled, rubbing at his stump and considering his arm on the dresser. “I know I should put it back on,” he said to it, “but my stump’s sore. My PT’s already going to yell at me…”

“So don’t.” He looked at Pidge, who shrugged. “You don’t have your arm. You don’t have to pretend all the time.” She flexed her hands up in front of her. “Besides, I’ve got enough finger action for the both of us.”

Something flashed over Shiro’s face, but he turned away with a chuckle before she could categorize it. “Okay,” he said, “you win.” She let him pull on a sweater and tuck the right sleeve in his pocket, then pushed him out the door, leaving his arm behind.

* * *

**_World of Warcraft – Tomb of Sargeras – Tanks4Lyfe (private chat) – Sun, Aug 27, 2017, 7:37 PM CST_ **

[VoltronCoalition][PiGForce]: _/Tanks4Lyfe_ Uuuugh why is si such a flirt in the ass  
[VoltronCoalition][PiGForce]: Hunk make your bf chill his grill  
[VoltronCoalition][_HUNK_]: lol  
[VoltronCoalition][_HUNK_]: he’s not being THAT bad, I doubt he’s even trying  
[VoltronCoalition][_HUNK_]: just leave the boy be  
[VoltronCoalition][PiGForce]: >:(  
[VoltronCoalition][PiGForce]: he’s hitting on the new guy AND the new girl  
[VoltronCoalition][PiGForce]: I would pay him to stop  
[VoltronCoalition][PiGForce]: huuuuuuuuuuuunnnnnnnnnnkkkkkkkkk  
[VoltronCoalition][_HUNK_]: p I adore you like a sister-brother but if I try to call him out on it now hell overthink it and get a complex about it and play like shit  
[VoltronCoalition][_HUNK_]: and I want to finish this raid before my dad gets home  
[VoltronCoalition][shiro]: please  
[VoltronCoalition][shiro]: I’m supposed to go out tonight and ‘sorry I have to cancel, my online game is more important’ isn’t the best first impression for a first date  
[VoltronCoalition][_HUNK_]: oooh a date! Fancy  
[VoltronCoalition][_HUNK_]: living on the edge scheduling it on raid night  
[VoltronCoalition][PiGForce]: not you too >:(((  
[VoltronCoalition][shiro}: always been this way, puggle <3  
[VoltronCoalition][PiGForce]: shut up bitch  
[VoltronCoalition][PiGForce]: is he hot @ least  
[VoltronCoalition][shiro]: I think so... but we’ll see  
[VoltronCoalition][_HUNK_]: good luck! :D  
[VoltronCoalition][shiro]: he’s also nice which is more important you know  
[VoltronCoalition][PiGForce]: hmm. Ok  
[VoltronCoalition][PiGForce]: HUNK TELL HIM TO STOP  
[VoltronCoalition][_HUNK_]: suck it up and let him get his flirt on  
[VoltronCoalition][_HUNK_]: he’s living his best life  
[VoltronCoalition][_HUNK_]: maybe shiro can take notes ;)  
[VoltronCoalition][shiro]: no.

* * *

**_Mystic, CA – Thu, Nov 22, 2018, 9:02 PM PST_ **

“Damn, this is good shit.” Pidge fell back on the bench of the half-booth she and Shiro had claimed in the back of the hotel bar, putting his fresh beer on the table by the cold fries and his empty bottle. She tucked into his side, kicking her feet up on the bench beside her, and took a pull from her own bottle. “Who knew root beer could be this delicious?”

He leant forward enough to grab his new beer. “As long as you’re happy, puggle.” She punched his side, and he groaned, curling around her as she cackled. “You’re a shit little sister,” he whined.

“Excuse you, I’m the _best_ little – sister,” she countered, head resting on the warmed spot she had claimed right next to his stump. There had been a few people who had asked them some casual questions when they first came downstairs, but between Matt already commanding the attention of the room and the football on TV, it was easy to slip into a quiet corner with a local beer and a local root beer, talking shit while Pidge blocked the general public from seeing Shiro’s empty right side with her whole body. It was warm (even if she was more pointed than curved) and unquestioning. She didn’t ask how he was doing or if he needed help, just clicked their glasses together and took a long gulp. “Best little brother, too,” she told the mouth of her bottle.

Shiro glanced down at the dishwater fluff in his face. “If you wanted to be, I’m sure.” She didn’t look up at him, but her squirming stilled a fraction. He tapped her head with his stump. “Talk to me.”

She groaned, turning into him a bit more so she could wiggle her free arm behind his back to grip his sweater at his waist. “But it’s _hard,_ ” she whined, condensation drops from her root beer bottle catching on the flyaway fuzz from his sweater. He rested his chin on the top of her head, watching the plaid patrons mill around the bar, Matt telling some story that half of them were laughing along with.

After a minute or so of silence in their little corner, Pidge sighed. “Well… I always kinda knew there was more to my ‘mystery pronouns’ with the guild than just identity protection,” she told Shiro’s sweater. “I… I like it, when Lance calls me bro, and – and ‘they’ feels…” She adjusted her seat with a wriggle. “I dunno.” She swallowed, throat working against Shiro’s chest. “I’ve never – told anyone to _do it_ in real life, though. Everyone’s known me for so long… but my new college stuff is mostly new people, and I wouldn’t even be the only one on my floor, and-” She huffed, pounding her fist into the bench behind Shiro. “I fucking _hate_ Katie,” she grumbled. Shiro chuckled. Pidge pulled back enough to look at him, eyes a little red and shiny. “I- I don’t know how meeting – any of you would go,” she admitted, just barely audible over the bar din. “I mean, I knew that _you_ kinda knew, but everyone else…” She sniffed, glaring at her bottle. “Lance is gonna be so obnoxious.”

Shiro laughed. “That’s kinda his MO, isn’t it?” She snorted. Shiro put his bottle down on the table so he could use his hand to ruffle her hair. “Whatever you decide feels right, you know we’ll back you up, right?”

She sniffed again. “Yeah,” she rasped, “I know.” She covered her emotions by downing too much root beer in one go, making her burp a little when she resurfaced from its carbonated depths. “I never really had doubts about being ace, y’know? Like, I found out it was a thing, and it was the closest I’ve ever been to a ‘God moment’ in my life and that was that.” She pushed up so she wasn’t sprawled as heavily on Shiro, but still kept close enough to share body heat. “But with… with the gender stuff, it’s always been… murky. Stormwater-y.” She tapped her bottle against her front teeth. “I didn’t wanna drag my friends into it if nothing came out of it, so-”

“Hey now.” She looked up at his interruption, the red around her eyes making them look more green than normal. He smiled. “What use are friends if they don’t help you out when you have no fucking idea what you’re doing, huh?” She smiled and wiped her nose on her shirtsleeve, almost spilling root beer on them both.

“Oh yeah, Mr. Nobody Knows I’m All Left?” He winced, and she laughing, hugging him with the arm behind his back. “You’re still a bitch for keeping that from me.”

He sighed. “I’ve accepted my fate.” She stuck her tongue out at him. “How about this,” he said, kicking his feet up on the chair across the table from them, sliding down a little with it and making Pidge lurch as he grabbed his beer again. “You let me listen to you figure yourself out, and I’ll try to tell you more about my own shit.”

She wrinkled her nose at him. “That won’t be hard, since you’re starting at ground zero.” He tapped her forehead with his bottle, just shy of hurting her. She jerked away with a yelp and a scowl. “Hey!”

“Respect your elders.”

“First grader,” she grumbled. He narrowed his eyes at her, but she just stole his beer and took a pull – coughed. “ _God_ , how do y’all _like_ that shit?” she choked out. He laughed as he stole it back.

“You get used to it.” He sipped it – it was pretty good beer, actually, if you weren’t an uncultured child. “Okay, I had my turn asking personal questions of you,” he said, “so what’s your revenge?”

Pidge hummed, swishing her root beer around her mouth before swallowing. “I’m gonna regret asking this,” she grumbled, but tapped his chest with her bottle and asked anyway, “So. How’s the gay bitch love life?”

He groaned, pressing the cold damp glass to this temple. “Non-existent.” She barked a laugh. “It’s… it’s not that I couldn’t find a date if I _wanted_ to, but between all the moving and work and keeping up with my PT…” He drank more. “It’s just hard to find the energy.”

“Dating is overrated, anyway.”

“You’ve got a point there.” He shrugged, her head moving with it – it was always a little weird when he didn’t have his harness to think about when he moved his shoulders. “And… there’s always the _questions_ , God, and the dudes in these towns I keep getting stationed at only see – well, uh.” He coughed. “Well…”

Pidge flicked his nose, startling him out of his embarrassed segue. “I’m underage, not uneducated. I know, like, _objectively_ you’re hot.” She huffed and nudged her face-down phone on the table with her bottle. “’Sides, even if I didn’t before, Lance flipping his shit every time I sneak a pic would _definitely_ have clued me in _quick_.”

Shiro snorted – wait. “You’ve been sending Lance pictures? Of us?”

She shrugged. “Well, you and Matt. It’s entertaining to watch him fall all over himself when I can control it. It’s like a Lance thirst remote, but with candids.” Had she really been stealing pictures of them all trip? When?

She sat up to shoot him a look. “You _know_ we’re meeting them _tomorrow_ ,” she pointed out. “He’d find out about… _this_ eventually. I’m just giving him a chance to get over it off camera. And Keith already knows, _so._ ”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “So you’ve sent one of you then, too, right?”

She narrowed her eyes and hid in his chest with a soft _thump_. “Fuck off.” She shrugged. “Just saying, he’d probably climb you like a tree if you asked.”

“That’s… great.” He finished his beer at last and lined up the bottle with the collection on the table. “Just great.”

She stilled, then pushed up to sit on her knees facing him, empty spot against his side chilling. “Okay. I may not know shit about you weird allo people, but I _know_ that tone.” She pointed at him with her almost-empty bottle, eyes slits. “Is that because it’s Lance, or because you’re _not interested?_ ”

He worked his jaw, holding her eye contact. “Well… it’s not _only_ because it’s Lance…” Her eyes widened, and he shrugged with a lopsided smile. “I guess not really being able to date hasn’t been as painful as it could have been?” She bit down on the middle of her smile, corners tilting up.

“Shiro.” She gripped his side, fingers digging in. “Are you joining me on the dark side?”

“I mean, maybe?” He scratched the back of his neck. “It’s just getting harder to find people I’m into, I guess. And it’s getting _really_ uncomfortable when they… express interest.”

She snorted hard enough to spray. “Oh, I am _not_ showing you what Lance has been saying, then.”

Shiro shuddered. “Please don’t, I’d rather not be weird around him before we even meet in person.”

She hugged him around the neck, grinning in his face. “ _Shiro!_ This is _great_! _”_ She bounced on her knees, shaking him with it until he had to laugh along. “I’m finally not _alone!_ ” She reared back, eyes still a little red but glowing. “I can’t _wait_ to talk shit about the romos with you!”

Shiro rolled his eyes, prying her off. “Hold on, puggle, _I’m_ still figuring it out, too. I’m not even sure if it’s gonna stick around.”

She didn’t really hear him, though, too busy polishing off her root beer. “Okay, hold that thought,” she said, standing up and scooping their empty bottles into the picked-over fry basket. “I’m getting us another round, and then we’re going _in_ on this, ‘kay?” He sighed, but smiled and nodded, watching her bounce away with their trash to the bar, which was still as crowded as ever. He rubbed his cooled side, shaking his head a little, but still smiling.

* * *

**_Auburn, CA – Thu, Nov 22, 2018, 9:27 PM PST_ **

Hunk had enjoyed so many people’s hospitality since running out of his house – God, was it only two days ago now? Geez. Well, all of his good Samaritans had been kind and thoughtful, but there was an undercurrent of pity that kept him on edge, just shy of being comfortable, like wearing clothes that were just a little too tight.

Nadia and her housemates weren’t like that at _all_.

“Shit, shit, shit!” James yelled at the game on TV, perched on the edge of the couch. “C’mon, c’mon-”

“Hah!” Nadia threw her hands in the air with a victory shout. “Take _that_ , boys!”

Hunk grinned and turned back to the dip he was mixing together. It hadn’t taken long after they got to their house after Thanksgiving lunch for them to give him free range in the kitchen, and he had dropped straight into his zone, making game snacks for them as the quieter half of the house helped, showing him where things were stored and being enthusiastic taste testers. Ryan didn’t say much, but what he did was well-meant and well-meaning, and everyone in the house took it seriously, just like when Ina went off on a rant about the best way to bake pizza rolls or when Nadia adjusted her glasses and delved into the science of CTE during halftime. They were all very different people, but they respected the hell out of each other without excluding Hunk at all. It almost felt like home again.

The game only had a few minutes left in the final quarter when Ina told him, “So, judging from the capacity of your bag and your general physical condition, I assume you’re missing a few of the essentials.” She blinked at him from across the kitchen island, big blue eyes serious. “Do you need to borrow anything? Toothbrush, socks, a phone charger, maybe? Mini USB, USB-C, iPhone, new or old?”

Hunk’s hands stilled in their stirring. _Phone charger_. “Actually…” He looked down at the dip. “I haven’t turned my phone on since I… left.” He clenched the spoon hard. Ina and Ryan paused in their kitchen milling – James and Nadia were too focused on the final plays of the game to eavesdrop, thank God. “I know I’m just putting off the inevitable,” he muttered, “but I just… what if I turn it on, and they call, and I answer by accident, and then…” He shoved the heel of his hand into his eye. “I’m just… not ready.”

He looked up from his dip in time to catch the glance Ina and Ryan were talking through before they nodded at each other. Ryan put down the rag he had been using to dry dishes, fixing Hunk with a serious face. “How long has it been?” he asked.

Hunk gulped. “About… about two days.”

“Your fears are valid and understandable.” Ina came around the kitchen island to lay a hand on his elbow – girls were so _small_. “Which is why we’ll do it for you.”

He blinked. “Huh?”

“Do you have people who would be trying to contact you that you would want to talk to?” she asked. He licked his lips – _Lance_. He nodded, throat tight. “Very well.” She dropped her hand. “Let us have your phone, and we’ll clean it up for you so you won’t do anything by accident and so you can make long-term plans with the people you know and trust.”

“You can stay with us as long as you need, of course,” Ryan assured him from across the island. “But trust us. If you have good friends, they’ll help you the best of anyone.” Ina nodded with a little ‘hmph’, sending Ryan a quick thumbs-up without looking away from Hunk. He looked between them, but their expressions were set – and they all _had_ been through something like this, in one way or another. He sighed, shoulders falling.

“Okay.” He left his dip to dig in his duffel, dumped behind the couch. Nadia and James were still captured by the football, so he was able to dig through his still-dirty clothes, packed in his dorm to wash at home a lifetime ago, to unearth the lifeless Otterbox buried at the bottom. He handed it over to Ina, trying not to let his hands shake. “The passcode’s 33126,” he told her. She nodded once, sitting next to Ryan at the stools cluttered around the island, bending their heads together over his phone. He went to the _other_ side of the kitchen, grabbing some chips to try out his dip with. Hmm, could use more garlic…

He was halfway through chopping up his fourth clove when Ina looked up from his phone and asked, “Who the hell is Lance?”


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> {A/N: APPLY THE KLANCE BOXED WINE DIRECTLY TO THE FOREHEAD  
> oh yeah and there's some Hunk stuff too I guess  
> [tumblr](http://carriecmoney.tumblr.com) [twitter](http://www.twitter.com/carriecmoney)}

**_Discord – Voltron Coalition – #lions-den 🔒 – Mon, Apr 12, 2017, 10:47 AM EST_ **

**sirenamor** _Today at 10:47 AM_  
<https://www.space.com/36455-saturn-moon-enceladus-energy-source-life.html>  
Space is cool actually

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 10:54 AM  
_ Space has always been cool?

 **sirenamor** _Today at 10:54 AM_  
Why are you like this.  
It’s called a JOKE bitch  
A MEME

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 10:55 AM  
_ Maybe you just have a shitty sense of humor

 **sirenamor** _Today at 10:55 AM  
gasp! _ Excuse you! Bitch!

 **princessplz** _Today at 10:56 AM  
_ Boys.

 **PiGForce** _Today at 10:56 AM  
_ O yeah id heard about that moon thing, pretty sweet

 **sirenamor** _Today at 10:57 AM_  
THANK you!  
Too bad signups for the mars mission are over… I’d love to be o nthat crew 😿

 **PiGForce** _Today at 10:57 AM  
_ I heard a rumor that they were only taking girls so no one had an accidental baby

 **sirenamor** _Today at 10:57 AM  
_ I never believed in reverse sexism until this moment

 **HUNK** _Today at 10:57 AM_  
Oh thank god  
No offense bro but I would not follow u to the stars… too many tight spaces and 0G would be AWFUL

 **sirenamor** _Today at 10:58 AM  
_ Where’s your sense of adventure!

 **HUNK** _Today at 10:59 AM  
_ You can find plenty of adventure right here on planet earth thank u!

 **sirenamor** _Today at 10:59 AM  
_ But spaaaaaaace

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 11:01 AM  
_ I’m with si on this one 😮 2

 **HUNK** _Today at 11:01 AM_  
Oh my God… miracles DO happen  
Myra never lies

 **PiGForce** _Today at 11:02 AM  
_ Myra?

 **HUNK** _Today at 11:02 AM  
_ <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lymt4it6Y_o>

**sirenamor** _Today at 11:03 AM_  
Holy shit throwback  
But see! Space is a universal awesome!

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 11:03 AM_  
Space is terrifying but I wanna go one day  
It’s so… big

 **sirenamor** _Today at 11:03 AM_  
Oh my God, Becky, look at that space  
☄🚀🌚🌌👽👾🌠🚀🌙🚀🌜☄

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 11:04 AM  
_ You’re so weird.

 **sirenamor** _Today at 11:04 AM  
_ 😽

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 11:05 AM  
_ I’m going back to work.

 **sirenamor** _Today at 11:05 AM  
_ You can run but you can’t hide!!

 **PiGForce** _Today at 11:06 AM  
_ Lance as a horror movie villain: discuss

 **sirenamor** _Today at 11:06 AM  
_ :((((

 **HUNK** _Today at 11:07 AM  
_ Evil babysitter, next

 **sirenamor** _Today at 11:07 AM_  
Rude, I’m the coolest babysitter in my whole family  
At least you can feed me after midnight!!

 **princessplz** _Today at 11:08 AM  
_ I thought I’d be the evil babysitter?

 **HUNK** _Today at 11:08 AM_  
O shit u right  
I guess he’s a weird shark-mermaid thing then?

 **sirenamor** _Today at 11:09 AM  
_ DO I GET THE TEETH

 **HUNK** _Today at 11:10 AM  
_ Ofc!

 **sirenamor** _Today at 11:10 AM  
_ YESSS

 **princessplz** _Today at 11:11 AM  
_ Oh yes, I like that!

 **sirenamor** _Today at 11:12 AM_  
🧜🦈🧜  
Hunk babe youre the only bitch here who understands me

 **HUNK** _Today at 11:13 AM  
_ 🧡💛🧡

 **PiGForce** _Today at 11:14 AM  
_ 🤮

* * *

**_Joshua Tree National Park, CA – Thu, Nov 22, 2018, 10:22 PM PST_ **

“Okay, we should be far enough from the main roads now to stop.”

“So, I just… pull over?” Lance giggled. “This is so _weird_.”

“Get over it,” Keith grumbled. Lance giggled again and slowed the car down even more than the twenty miles per hour pace the rough desert gravel was forcing them to crawl at, turning onto a little beaten-down section of sand by the road. Their resting place for the night was tucked between two slight mounds, barely as tall as the Highlander, that were covered in prickly bushes and Joshua trees, the landscape alien in the midnight darkness and car headlights. Keith had lived in the desert off and on his whole life, but he found something new every time he got lost in it. People who called it dead had just never looked hard enough.

Lance turned off the engine with a sigh, heater and headlights dying. “Welp. Here we are.” He unbuckled, the swish of the seatbelt too loud in the sudden silence. “I’m gonna pee,” he said, zipping up his outside jacket against the wind gusting on the north side of the car and digging out a flashlight from the center console.

“Sure, whatever,” Keith said. “I’ll get the bed ready.”

“Can’t wait to sleep with me, babe?” Lance joked, winking in the overhead light. Keith punched him, scowling through the heat flooding his chest. Lance just laughed and hopped out of the car, the wind twisting through Keith’s hair before the door slammed with its force. Keith watched the flashlight bob over one of the desert humps, teeth grinding. What had he done in his past lives to warrant getting forced to car camp (only a _little_ bit illegally) in the desert with a string bean flirt with nice hair and piano hands? _Ugh_. He needed _sleep_.

He dug his leather jacket out of his bigger duffel to shrug it on over his flannel as a windbreaker, then climbed out onto the desert gravel, the interior lights fading when he shut the door. He sighed, falling against the cold metal, and tilted his head back to stare at the stars, chill of the glass seeping through his crown. At first it looked like any other night sky, but as his eyes adjusted and the chill became a part of him, more stars appeared, until it felt like there was more stars than space. That was stupid, of course. There was more space than anything else in the universe.

Gravel crunched around the hood of the car, but he didn’t look down from the sky, even when the feet stopped beside him. “You look like shit,” Lance quipped, the car rocking as he leant next to Keith, almost close enough to touch. Keith grunted, clenching his fists in his pockets. Lance hummed, copying his pose to stargaze with him, elbows brushing. “Wow,” Lance breathed, stopping Keith’s. “This sure is something.”

Keith cleared his throat, kickstarting his lungs into working again. “Yeah.”

Lance leant a little more into his side – not enough to overbalance them, but just to share body warmth, the line of his upper arm scorching Keith’s. “I used to swear that the beach had the best night skies,” he said, voice low and rough. “When it’s too dark to see anything but the whitecaps and the only way to tell where the water meets the sky is where the stars stop, and even then you’re not sure. But this…” His head lolled on the window, cheek brushing Keith’s hair. “This is something else.”

Keith swallowed, keeping his eyes trained straight up and his spine stuff. “It scares me,” he blurted out before he could hold it back. Lance’s head turned, but Keith didn’t take the bait, focusing on the cold against his back instead of the heat at his side. “There’s so much out there,” he forced himself to explain. “There’s no way we’ll ever be able to touch it all.” He crossed his arms tight over his chest, hands balled behind his elbows out of the wind. “It reminds me that I don’t matter,” he mumbled, stars blurring but he wouldn’t blink first.

Lance tugged on his elbow enough to weasel his own arm around it, clutching Keith’s arm tight against him. “That’s – you _do_ matter, babe-”

“Stop _calling_ me that!” Keith yelled, whipping to glare at Lance, voice echoing in the empty desert. Lance jerked back, eyes white and wide in the starlight. Keith _shook_. “Just stop it,” he whispered.

Lance’s arm flexed around his, tongue flicking out to lick dry lips. “Why?” he asked, voice brittle.

“Because-!” _It’s stupid, it’s silly, it’s cutesy, I like it too much_ –

His hand gripped Lance’s arm just above his elbow, wrist trembling with the strength of his grip. Lance blinked at him, free hand floating between them, caught in the act of reaching out. Keith swallowed on a dry throat. “You ever heard the term ‘put up or shut up’?” he growled, face _burning_.

Lance’s mouth fell open, not a gape but enough for a hot breath to gust over Keith’s face. “Oh.”

They stared each other down, caught on the edge of the cliff – Lance’s floating hand twitched forward –

Staticy piano banged out of Lance’s sweatshirt pocket. They both jumped and cursed, arms unlocking so Lance could fumble his zipper open to get to his sweatshirt underneath. He spared a second to stare at the contact on the screen, eyes circles. Keith slid away as Lance shook to answer, slamming the phone to his ear.

“Hunk?”

* * *

**_Phone – Thu, Nov 22, 2018, 10:28 PM PST_ **

_“Hunk?”_  
_“Hey, Lance.”_  
_“Hunk! Oh my God, I love you so much, are you okay? Where are you? What-”_  
_“Hahaha, Lance, slow down! Also, where are_ you?”  
_“Who_ cares? _Hunk I swear to God-”_  
_“I’m fine, Lance. Well, now I am. Made some new friends, y’know-”_  
_“Babe are you still on the run? You didn’t go back or-”_  
_“’On the run’ is a bit of an overstatement-”_  
_“Sweetheart, I’m so fucking_ proud _of you! You’re doing it, oh my God, I can’t believe it!”_  
_“Lance!”_  
_“We were all worried sick about you, you know – Keith and I haven’t been able to sleep at_ all!”  
_“Keith? So you really are with him?”_  
_“Yeah! Shit, lemme put you on speaker-”_  
_“Hunk? You okay, bud?”_  
_“Oh my God. You two… are you really together right now?”_  
_“I- I mean, depends on what you mean by_ together-”  
_“Lance, shut the fuck up.”_  
_“Oh my God, you totally are! This is crazy!”_  
_“It gets crazier – we’re in Cali right now!”_  
_“Holy shit, really?”_  
_“Yeah dude, I texted you at the state line! I was actually about to update you again, but – uh – well we’re at Joshua Tree now! We were gonna sleep for a bit but_ now- _”_  
_“Get back in the car, I’m driving-”_  
_“Whoa, whoa, slow down! Don’t kill yourselves driving at night, darky, sheez. Hah hah, oh my God, it’s good to hear your voices, though… and Pidge and Shiro too?”_  
_“Yeah dude, you know we had to go all in! I’m_ getting, _Keith, calm down!”_  
_“Hold up, both of you, I’m serious. I’m in a stable place now. You_ really _don’t have to kill yourselves to get to me. I’ll be fine for a few more hours, okay?”_  
_“Bullshit.”_  
_“Darky, chill. If he says he’s fine, he’s – where_ are _you, babe?”_  
_“It’s a long story, but I found some new friends who’ll help me out for a bit. They’re not exactly strangers to parent drama, so-”_  
_“Don’t you dare leave your shit unguarded, orphans will tear your shit up if you’re not careful.”_  
_“Be nice! They’re adults and have a_ house _, okay? I can take care of it.”_  
_“Hmph.”_  
_“What Keith is_ trying _to say is to stay on your toes. We’ll be there soon!”_  
_“Promise me you’ll sleep, okay? I couldn’t stand it if you crashed in a ditch somewhere to get to me a few minutes earlier!”_  
_“Told you.”_  
_“Fine, fine, we’ll crash for a_ few _hours, but I wanna see your stupid face soon._ God _, I’m so happy you’re okay.”_  
_“Yeah… It was a little bumpy for a while, but… I can’t wait. I missed you.”_  
_“Aww, that’s gay, Right, Keith?”_  
_“Fuck off, Si.”_  
_“Oh! We totally have a present for you! But you’ll see it when we get there, okay?”_  
_“Hahaha, sure.”_  
_“Hey, are you still, like… in the same town? For directions purposes and stuff.”_  
_“Yeah, yeah I am. I’ll text you the address in the morning, okay?”_  
_“Great, great, awesome.”_  
_“Lance?”_  
_“Yeah bud?”_  
_“Thanks. So much.”_  
_“Aww, sunshine, you know I couldn’t leave you hanging like that! What’s a little thing like a continent between BFFLs?”_  
_“Yeah…”_  
_“Don’t cry, don’t cry! You’ll make_ me _cry, and it’s too cold out here for that!”_  
_“Haha, okay. Get some rest, okay? I’m crashing on their couch soon, so you should, too.”_  
_“Sure, sure. Hey, hit up Pidge first though, okay? I’d do it, but-”_  
_“No, I should talk to them myself, you’re right. Thanks.”_  
_“Of course. We’ll strategize when we all assemble, okay?”_  
_“Haha, okay, okay. Thanks… I really love you, man.”_  
_“Love you too. Keith?”_  
_“If you get arrested before I get there I’m turning this into a jailbreak.”_  
_“Keith!”_  
_“Yeah! That’s the spirit!”_  
_“Oh my God, you guys… you’re crazy.”_  
_“Yeah but we’re your crazy!”_  
_“True, true.”_  
_“Okay, it is_ butt _cold out here, I need a blanket huddle STAT. Call Pidge! Love you!”_  
_“I will! Love you too!”_  
_“Yeah, yeah.”_  
_“Keith loves you too!”_  
_“Hey-”_  
  
CALL ENDED  
DURATION 12:09

* * *

**_Joshua Tree National Park – Thu, Nov 22, 2018, 10:40 PM PST_ **

Lance was going to _burst_.

He shoved his phone in his pocket – any pocket – and spun on his heel to face Keith, pebbles flying. Keith was still a little grumpy from how Lance had hung up, but Lance didn’t care, laughing as he grabbed Keith around the waist and spun him around, gravel crunching underfoot, his laughter and Keith’s yelps the only sounds for miles. Keith clung to him, trying to yell at him to _put him down, Si, Jesus Christ_ , but Lance didn’t _care_. Hunk was _alive_ and _happy_ and _fine_ , he was _okay_ and always would be from now on, and he was ready to _scream_ about it.

“Lance – stop it-” But Keith was gone, too, face buried in Lance’s hood as he laughed along, arms tight around Lance’s neck. Lance slowed his spin, arms aching a little from holding up Keith’s pitbull density, but he wasn’t letting him go _now_ , not when he finally had him this close. He buried his face in Keith’s hair, sighing with a smile.

“Lance.” Lance hummed. “Let me down already, my ribs are killing me.”

Lance chuckled, but finally complied, lowering Keith to his feet without letting him go. Keith snatched his hands back like Lance was hot lavarock, but Lance just laced his fingers together at the small of Keith’s back, swaying with the wind. His eyes had adjusted enough to the dark that he could make out Keith’s face, mouth set, eyes watering, jaw shaking. He was warm in Lance’s arms, but trembling, like he was one of the Joshua trees side-tilt with the desert wind. “I- I’m glad he’s okay,” Keith said, looking away but not trying to break free, gripping his own jacket lapels hard enough for the leather to creak (and Lance was going to touch on the topic of a _blood red leather jacket_ at a later date, Jesus).

“ _God_ , I’m so glad he’s okay,” Lance said, barely holding back from spinning them around again. “I have no idea how I’m going to sleep tonight.”

“Normally I’d agree with you, but I’m fucking beat.” Keith cleared his throat. “Can you, um, let me go?”

“What’s the magic word?” Lance crooned. Keith’s awkward fidgeting stilled with a flat look. He shoved Lance’s chest away and stomped back to the trunk door, hauling it open. Lance grinned, trailing behind as Keith thumped himself down on the bumper, ripping off his shoes and chucking them towards the front. Lance crawled in, closing the trunk door behind him and blocking out the dry wind and stars. He pulled off his Vans, settling them in the dip behind the wheel well, then knelt to face a furiously busy Keith. He smiled, the sun in his chest not fading under the moon. Hunk was safe and alive, and Lance could do _anything_ he wanted.

Keith caught him staring and scowled. “What’re you smirking at,” he growled, overcompensating like crazy.

Lance’s sun didn’t even set a fraction. “Just thinking.” Keith sat back with a _whump_ , clutching his pillow to his chest like armor. His loose hair was a wild cactus mess around his head, strands sticking to his face, dark eyes trying not to look at Lance and failing. Lance slid closer by his hands, not all up in Keith’s face but close enough to do something about it. “Can I touch you?” he asked. Keith snorted.

“Asking first? That’s new.” When Lance still waited, hands flat on the rumpled fleece below them, Keith shoved his face into the pillow, a groan of _“I guess”_ escaping the microfiber muffle. Lance grinned, starting with taking Keith’s wrists and prying his arms from around the pillow. Keith resisted a little, but when he peered up just enough to see Lance’s face, he sighed and relaxed, letting Lance pry him open.

Lance set the pillow aside and pulled Keith so that Lance’s knees pressed against his ankles. “I didn’t get to answer you earlier,” Lance said, still moving Keith around by his wrists, this time making him lean in close enough that Lance could see the stars captured in his eyes, could feel his pulse quicken against his palms, his breath on Lance’s neck. “I’ve _definitely_ heard of ‘put up or shut up’.”

“Oh, _fuck_ you,” Keith cursed. Lance laughed–

Keith surged forward and shut up him with his face. Lance wasn’t quite ready for it and fell backwards with a squeal, banging into the other side of the car, all of the pointy bits tabbing right at him. He groaned, wincing as he wiggled the seatbelt out of the way – an action not really helped by the pitbull on his chest. “A little warning next time,” he moaned, hands resting on Keith’s waist where he was sprawled between Lance’s bent legs. Keith cursed and wriggled, face beet red as he tried to push up and away – but there was nowhere to go, and Lance didn’t want him to leave, anyway.

He wrapped Keith up and rolled them, flipping so they were mostly length-wise down the trunk and horizontal, Lance on his elbows over Keith. He got comfortable, legs slotting together and feet pressed against the trunk door, multiple top layers shifting around as Keith watched, fists gathering up fluorescent green at his sides. Lance smiled down at him, running a finger under the black knotted string choker around Keith’s neck, _feeling_ his breath catch. “Wanna try that again?”

Keith snarled, going _straight_ to Lance’s gut. “You’re so fucking _annoying_ , get _down_ here.”

Lance smirked. “What’s the magic wo-”

Keith grabbed his face and yanked him down, Lance’s elbows sliding out as Keith’s tongue slid in. Lance melted, tilting Keith’s head as he slid down a bit for a better angle, fingercombing long hair out as Keith went to town, biting his lip and tracing over the ridges of Lance’s palate with his tongue. Lance shifted – he couldn’t stay still – and hooked his ankle around Keith’s leg, knee bumping into the car frame but he didn’t care. Kissing Keith was like grabbing a live wire – he was locked in until the current was cut off, hair on end and _charged_.

Keith didn’t seem inclined to stop electrocuting him, hands sliding up under Lance’s layers to bare his back to the open air, bunching between them as he bent his knee between Lance’s for leverage. Lance kissed him harder, nose digging into Keith’s cheek, gasping in each other’s mouths instead of breaking to breathe. Keith rutted up into him, denim scraping-

Lance broke away, panting in Keith’s face, stomachs pressed together. Keith blinked up at him, hair a hot mess and mouth wet and _oh my God_ -

Lance shook it off, holding Keith back by the hair when he tried to surge up again. “That was… good,” he breathed, nerves singing. Keith’s fingers traced idle circles around his shoulder blades, making his eyelids flutter. “Mmm. Nice.”

“Stop talking and let me kiss you again.”

Lance tugged on Keith’s hair to keep him pinned to the trunk bed, biting his lip against the tangle Keith’s voice twisted his gut into. Keith pouted up at him, and Lance grinned. “As adorable as that is, we should probably chill for a bit. Can’t run straight home, yeah?”

Keith blinked at him, a little punch-drunk and did Lance do that? “Why not?”

Lance sputtered, pushing up to his elbows. “Because! I have to _woo_ you – the whole date thing, and flowers and candy, and – I barely even remember your last _name!_ What would it be like if we got _married,_ huh?”

Keith’s eyebrows furrowed. “But… isn’t that what the last few days have been? The wooing thing?” Lance stared, and Keith looked away, turning in profile to Lance. “I mean – we’ve been eating together and stuff, and – you bought me a knife, Si.” He cleared his throat, fingers clenching on Lance’s back. “Can’t we just call that a date and roll with it?”

Lance kept staring long enough for Keith to squirm, then collapsed on top of him, whining into his flannel as Keith wheezed and coughed. “My new boyfriend’s a wild animal,” he cried, shaking Keith’s head side to side.

“Boyfriend?” Keith squeaked, voice cracking. Lance frowned at red plaid and black hemp.

“Well, like… if you wanna be? I know we’ve always butted heads online and junk, but I wouldn’t wanna be just friends who make out once a year when they’re in the same state, but I also don’t wanna just forget this happened either, y’know? And – you’re really growing on me, and maybe it’s the trauma but trauma brought the Golden Trio together and they were still close nineteen years later? And you’re really hot and funny and-”

Keith shoved his hand in Lance’s face, thumb poking in Lance’s open mouth. “Shut _up_ , Si, _God_.” He shifted to curl a finger under Lance’s chin, tilting it up so they could see each other better. “It might just be the trauma,” he admitted in a desert-still voice, eyes space deep and catching Lance in like the stars outside. “I don’t want to show up tomorrow holding your hand and – lose it a week later.” He swallowed, and Lance could feel his throat work against his cheek. “So if we’re not gonna ‘run home’ tonight, let’s just… play it by ear for a bit? See how it goes?”

Lance pouted. “I want to tell you that you’re wrong, but that’s responsible as shit.” Keith huffed and let his face go. Lance curled on top of Keith, manhandling his limbs into something like cuddling. “So, we hold onto this feeling until things settle out again, then see if we’ve still got it?”

“It’s the _responsible_ thing.” Keith reached back blindly for his discarded pillow as Lance kicked and tugged the blankets around them, burritoing them together, Lance pillowed on Keith’s chest. It was kind of comfortable, and he wasn’t sure if he was supposed to be mad about that or not.

When they were more sleep-ready, Keith cleared his throat. “We can… we can still, y’know. Do stuff. If you wa-”

Lance shut him up with his face.

* * *

**_Discord – Direct Message @HUNK @PiGForce – Thu, Nov 22, 2018, 11:02 PM PST_ **

**HUNK** _Today at 11:02 PM  
_ Hey p… I’m alive

 **PiGForce** _Today at 11:05 PM  
_ HUNK??

 **HUNK** _Today at 11:05 PM  
_ That’s who I am :)

 **PiGForce** _Today at 11:05 PM  
_ YOU BITCH ARE YOU OKAY??

 **HUNK** _Today at 11:06 PM_  
Lol I’m fine, thanks for asking  
I’m safe and got a friendly place to sleep and I’ve already done this whole thing with Lance

 **PiGForce** _Today at 11:06 PM  
_ Hold up im waking up shiro

 **HUNK** _Today at 11:07 PM_  
Nooo don’t wake him up!  
It can wait until morning

 **PiGForce** _Today at 11:08 PM_  
Not like he’s actually asleep anyway  
We just left the bar like 20 minutes ago and also he’s an insomniac

 **HUNK** _Today at 11:09 PM  
_ You went to a bar?

 **PiGForce** _Today at 11:10 PM_  
Only place to eat here and not important  
Don’t you ever do that to us again!! Bitchhh  
Shiro says so too

 **HUNK** _Today at 11:12 PM_  
:(((( I’m sorry p  
And noooo you didn’t wake him up! I told you not to!

 **PiGForce** _Today at 11:12 PM  
_ Shut up we’re just happy you’re okay, okay??

 **HUNK** _Today at 11:12 PM  
_ 🌞

 **PiGForce** _Today at 11:13 PM_  
That’s my al  
You said you already talked to si?

 **HUNK** _Today at 11:13 PM  
_ Lol yeah, he and darky are in the desert somewhere

 **PiGForce** _Today at 11:13 PM  
_ We’ll see if they both make it out alive…

 **HUNK** _Today at 11:13 PM_  
Hahaha  
So, you guys are in cali too?

 **PiGForce** _Today at 11:14 PM  
_ Yep, made it just past Reno before my beautiful baby almost skidded out and we stopped for the night

 **HUNK** _Today at 11:15 PM  
_ Please don’t try to drive now

 **PiGForce** _Today at 11:15 PM  
_ No way, these beds are comfy

 **HUNK** _Today at 11:15 PM  
_ Thank god

 **PiGForce** _Today at 11:16 PM  
_ Lol were the idiots going to do that?

 **HUNK** _Today at 11:16 PM  
_ 😭

 **PiGForce** _Today at 11:17 PM_  
Hahahahaa those fools  
You sure you’re okay until we get there?

 **HUNK** _Today at 11:18 PM_  
Yeah… I can tell you the story when you get here  
I still can’t believe you’re going to be HERE  
You guys really didn’t have to 😭😭

 **PiGForce** _Today at 11:20 PM_  
Shut up yes we did  
We’ll figure out what to do together, okay?  
I mean I got some ideas but it’s your life

 **HUNK** _Today at 11:20 PM  
_ Aww, letting me make my own choices! How thoughtful

 **PiGForce** _Today at 11:20 PM  
_ Yeah well I already turned in all of your hw so I gotta let you have smth

 **HUNK** _Today at 11:21 PM  
_ You did WHAT now

 **PiGForce** _Today at 11:21 PM  
_ Go to sleep!! I’ll let u know when we leave tmrw!

 **HUNK** _Today at 11:22 PM  
_ PIDGE YOU DID NOT

 **PiGForce** _Today at 11:23 PM  
_ :3cccc

* * *

**_Mystic, CA – Thu, Nov 22, 2018, 11:23 PM PST_ **

“You can be cruel when you’re kind, you know that, right?”

Pidge rolled over to grin at Shiro, who had been reading their conversation over their shoulder with a lazy smile. They shrugged, settling back into the thin but plentiful pillows of Shiro’s hotel bed. “It’s a gift.” They typed out another teasing message to Hunk – and he _replied_. “So, do you have any plans for tomorrow now that we’ve got some status?” they asked, scrolling through the emoji keyboard for the most annoying one.

Shiro shrugged, sliding down under the covers he hadn’t bothered to throw off when Pidge barged into his room to shove their phone in his face. “Dunno. Depends on what he wants to do, I guess.” He sighed, glancing at his own phone on the nightstand. “At the least, he should finish out his semester… you did do all that homework for him, after all.”

“I know, right?”

“And Keith keeps saying he’s going to stay here with him… God, that kid’s a mess.”

“He’s _your_ kouhai.” Shiro leveled them with a flat stare. They smirked. “ _Yes,_ Shiro-senpai?”

“Do I have to tell you how wrong that sounds from a white kid’s mouth?”

“Oh, lighten up, it’s _basic_ anime. Any five year old watching _Sailor Moon_ could pick it up.” They bit their lip as Hunk sent a string of moon emojis – their own signal that it was bedtime and time to stop the conversation. “I wanna take him home,” she said in a small voice. “He’d like it at UIowa, and Mom could kick the admissions office around for us.”

“That’s a lot to ask of him, Pidge.” He ruffled their hair. “We’ll talk as a team. That’s when we get the best ideas.”

They sighed. “Yeah, you’re right.” They flopped over to half sprawl over him, arm outflung over his chest. “I should go back to my room, I guess.”

“If you want…” They propped their chin on his ribs to pout at him as he smiled down at them. “Bed’s big enough for two,” he said, “and I’m not really sleepy yet.” They grinned and crawled under the covers, clutching two pillows close as they talked into the night.

* * *

**_Auburn, CA – Thu, Nov 22, 11:33 PM PST_ **

Hunk still didn’t quite believe it.

He pulled up one of the five blankets Nadia had thrown at him for the night over his face, hiding his grin from the empty living room. The housemates had stuck around long enough to learn that his long distance friends weren’t so long distance anymore and to give him their street address so he could tell them where to show up the next day, then wandered their own beds to leave Hunk with his phone and happiness. His parents hadn’t tried to call since Ina and Ryan had cleared his buildup of notifications, and he had been too busy fielding all of his guild checking in on him at once to even try to look at any of his texts besides Lance’s. He scrolled through the backlog of the kidz-korner channel now, not bothering to hold back his smile as he read through the last few days of Pidge, Lance and Keith talking shit as they headed west. Headed towards _him_.

He wiped his eyes on an overlarge throw pillow and stuck his phone under it, burying his grin in canvas. Tomorrow would _definitely_ be a good day.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> {A/N: I think we may be getting somewhere... [twitter](http://www.twitter.com/carriecmoney) [tumblr](http://carriecmoney.tumblr.com)}

**_Discord – Voltron Coalition – #lions-den🔒 – Mon, Dec 25, 2017, 11:47 AM EST_ **

**sirenamor** _Today at 11:47 AM_  
Feliz Navidad from the whole clan!  🎄🎅🎁❄☃🏝🎀🎄🎅🎁  
JPEG_20171225_101557.jpg

 **PiGForce** _Today at 11:58 AM_  
God I always forget how overwhelming your fam is when you’re all in the same house  
Like how is florida not tilting into the ocean from the weight

 **sirenamor** _Today at 12:17 PM_  
Excuse u we’re in cuba this year  
But holidays ARE super cramped when we come back here for the season  
Thanks Obama for lifting the embargo  
🇨🇺🇨🇺

 **PiGForce** _Today at 12:31 PM_  
I am NEVER visiting.  
My idiot cousins are enough thanks

 **sirenamor** _Today at 12:40 PM  
_ Lol ur just weak

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 12:47 PM  
_ Wait… you’re from cuba _@sirenamor_?

 **PiGForce** _Today at 12:49 PM  
_ Woooowwww

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 12:54 PM_  
How was I supposed to know that!  
I knew Hispanic obvs and not mexican

 **HUNK** _Today at 12:57 PM_  
‘I’m from cuba’ was one of the first things lance ever said to me  
How long have you been in the guild?

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 1:02 PM  
_ :I

 **shiro** _Today at 1:10 PM_  
Hahaha, give him a break guys  
He didn’t figure out I was japanese for like a year

 **HUNK** _Today at 1:17 PM  
_ WAIT _YOU’RE_ JAPANESE??

**PiGForce** _Today at 1:19 PM  
_ 🤯

**shiro** _Today at 1:25 PM  
_ …had I really never told yall that?

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 1:28 PM  
_ Wow. You actually made me feel better for once.

 **shiro** _Today at 1:32 PM_  
Rude. And uncalled for.  
  
But yeah… I mean I grew up in America but my parents are first gen

 **HUNK** _Today at 1:41 PM_  
Merry Christmas to us  
Apparently our holiday gifts are one (1) shiro secret

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 1:50 PM  
_ It’s not a secret if you see him

 **shiro** _Today at 1:53 PM  
_ A YEAR, keith.

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 1:57 PM  
_ I knew you were Asian! I just didn’t want to be rude and _ask_

 **shiro** _Today at 2:00 PM  
_ It’s in my name.

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 2:01 PM  
_ Fuck off.

 **sirenamor** _Today at 2:27 PM_  
Ok this is cute and all but can we get back to the fact that darky didn’t know I’M CUBAN  
🇨🇺🇨🇺🇨🇺🇨🇺🇨🇺🇨🇺🇨🇺🇨🇺

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 2:38 PM  
_ See above comment about being rude and asking.

 **sirenamor** _Today at 2:38 PM_  
Excuses!  
Pay more attention, we’ve talked about this!

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 2:45 PM_  
:I  
Brb, going to a movie with coworkers

 **sirenamor** _Today at 2:51 PM  
_ This isn’t over!!!

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 2:52 PM  
_ Sure.

 **sirenamor** _Today at 2:52 PM  
_ Shiro! Get your kouhai under control!

 **shiro** _Today at 3:11 PM  
_ No.

* * *

**_Joshua Tree National Park, CA – Fri, Nov 23, 2018, 5:47 AM PST_ **

Keith didn’t feel like he had fallen asleep, the buzz of his nerves, the chill seeping in from the sand, and the points of Lance’ bony cuddles too many sensations to ignore. But he must have after all, because he did remember waking up, fetal curled under fleece and something mild and rhythmic tugging at his hair. He groaned and curled tighter, the rhythm wavered, but dug back in, soft fingertips brushing his scalp with every pass.

“You awake, babe?” Lance’s raspy morning voice asked. Keith moaned. Lance chuckled, wiggling a little closer to press against his back. “Your hair is such a mess,” he said, his fingers not pausing in their even combing.

“N’who’s faul’s that,” Keith grumbled even as he pressed back into Lance’s warmth. Lance chuckled again, tucking Keith’s hair behind his ear, following the line of it to the ends, pushing it away from his skin to splay on the pillow.

Lance tucked his face into Keith’s bared skin, cold nose under Keith’s ear and mouth against neck. Keith hummed, turning into it. Lance’s arm snaked around his waist under the blanket, thumb circling circles into his stomach over his shirt. “You kick in your sleep, you know that?” Lance pressed to his throat. Keith grunted.

Lance’s teeth grazed over his neck, and on a normal day that would have woken Keith _right_ the fuck up, but he was running on six hours of sleep in the last two days and all of them on a carpet-covered board, so all he could muster up was a long groan and a blind grab for Lance’s hand at his waist, locking their fingers together, his palm to the back of Lance’s hand. “Too early,” he moaned.

“That’s what she said.” Lance kissed his neck again, then just laid his cheek against the damp spot. “We should get going soon,” he said. “Sun’s almost up.”

“Mmm.” He was too exhausted to put up his fronts, pressing back into Lance’s curves instead, flush from chest to knees. “No. Comfy.”

Lance squeezed him tighter. “So is that an invite to cuddle whenever I want?”

Keith was _not_ awake enough to handle that emotion. “Ask me after we find coffee.” Lance laughed and, after one more smacking neck kiss, pushed up to a sit, gaping blankets letting in fingers of the cold into their nest. The human fingers went back to Keith’s hair, pulling out tangles and laying it out in a halo. “You ever braid your hair?” Lance asked.

Keith shrugged. “Sometimes. Falls out too fast, though.”

“Maybe you’re just not doing it right. Gimme your hairband, let me try.” Keith grumbled, but wiggled around to hold his wrist up. Fingers pushed his flannel’s sleeve up his arm- “Oh _hell_ no.”

Keith’s hand flopped down, thumping on the hard trunk bed. “Whatsit now?”

“You use an _actual_ rubber band for your hair? You really _were_ raised by wolves.” Lance crawled to the front of the car, shaking it on its suspension enough to really jog Keith awake. He pushed up to one elbow, rubbing a hand over his tingling face as Lance dug around in the center console. “Ah-ha!” Knew I kept these around for a reason.” Keith blinked at him as Lance pulled off a red elastic from a cardboard holder, tossing the line of them back in the console. “My sisters go through them like grease,” he explained, sitting back down and helping Keith sit up, back facing Lance. “I keep some in my car now so I can always keep my ‘best brother’ title.”

Keith frowned ahead, bleary eyes taking in the gray pre-dawn outside, the desert landscape tinged blue. “How many sisters do you have, anyway?” he asked, rubbing at his face as the fingers that had been idle and calming just a few minutes ago worked through his hair with a purpose.

“Well, two technically, but the American side of my family is all pretty close, so I usually roll up my five girl cousins in that when I’m talking to most people.” Keith’s neck chilled as his hair was braided together, link by link. “We’ve lived on the same street since we moved here, and even in Miami it ain’t easy being the new kids fresh off the boat sometimes. I keep the creeps off them, they help me sneak home when I’m past curfew, it all works out in the end.” He tied off his braid with quick wrist flicks, then brushed the end against Keith’s neck. He jerked, and Lance laughed. “Looks good, wolfman.”

“Shut up.” Keith stretched, hands pressed to the roof of the car, yawning. “Okay, breakfast, and then we hit the road?” he asked, already laying out on his side to dig in their food box for the granola bars.

“Sounds good.” Lance groaned. “Ugh, I need to pee, but it’s _cold_ out there.”

“When do you _not_ need to pee,” Keith grumbled, too low for Lance to hear. He found the Nature Valley box and dug out two, tossing one over his shoulder and smirking at the surprised yelp. He rolled over and sat up, ripping open his granola bar wrapper. Lance pouted at him, his own bar still in the folds of the blanket over his lap. Keith raised an eyebrow as he chewed. “What?”

“You’re a jerk, you know that?” Keith shrugged. Lance sighed, rolling his eyes. “ _Ugh_ , why do I _like_ you again?” he asked the rising sun. Keith swallowed, heart fluttering even as he tried to stay stoic.

“Beats me.” He shoved the last of the bar in his mouth, shoving the wrapped in their improvised trash Walmart bag hanging from the headrest of the passenger seat. “Lord knows what I see in you.”

Lance gasped, hand to his heart. “Excuse you! I’m _way_ more handsome and charming than you’ll-”

Keith pushed forward and kissed him, holding Lance steady by the chin. Lance squeaked, open mouth still trying to talk, and both of them needed a toothbrush _bad_ , but Lance sighed and curled his hand around his neck under Keith’s braid, tilting into it. Keith was sitting at an awkward angle, legs folded sideways and all his weight on one arm, but when Lance’s thumb pressed under his jaw to turn his head just a little to hit the _right_ angle, Keith stopped caring.

Lance was the one to pull away, drawing Keith’s lip through his teeth as he went. “Good morning to you, too.” Keith huffed, pressed their foreheads together a _little_ harder than necessary. Lance’s eyes bored into his watery sparkle, sunlight on the ocean. “I think I remember why I like you,” he whispered. Keith’s face warmed. Lance kissed his nose and pushed him back by the shoulders. “Okay, bathroom time. Such as it is.” He shoved open the door nearest them, whining as the cold attacked them, sticking his legs out – “Ah, shit, shoes!”

Keith snorted – laughed, collapsing onto a pillow. Lance cursed at him, climbing over his prone body like a squirrel to get to where he had left his shoes the night before, as Keith fell apart in the back seat, the tangled emotional heap of the last few days unspooling across hot pink. It had been such a _bizarre_ Thanksgiving – the highs and lows of worry for Hunk and his situation, the strain of driving too long too fast, leaving his life as it was behind, _Lance_ pulling it all tighter and tighter until it imploded into _this_. He couldn’t stop _laughing,_ and it felt _good._

“You’re so weird,” Lance said as he hopped out of the car, closing the door on Keith’s watery hysterics. Keith kind of agreed with him.

* * *

**_Discord – Voltron Coalition – #kidz-korner🔒 – Fri, Nov 23, 2018, 7:01 AM PST_ **

**PiGForce** _Today at 7:01 AM  
_ So _@HUNK_ are you still alive

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 7:10 AM_  
He better be  
This is a rescue mission not a recovery mission

 **PiGForce** _Today at 7:15 AM_  
Damn straight  
You boys on your way?

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 7:17 AM_  
Yeah we got moving like an hour ago  
Hard to sleep in when its freezing and your mattress is basically a bumpy plank  
What about yall?

 **PiGForce** _Today at 7:20 AM_  
Shiro and I just woke up  
Matt’s still out of it bc ‘the guard is too soft’  
This is why I could never enlist, too much macho posturing

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 7:22 AM  
_ Too many rules for me.

 **PiGForce** _Today at 7:23 AM  
_ Also that  
Anyway I’ve got to kick his ass awake, then the nice hotel lady is gonna feed us before we leave  
Its only like 3 hours to hunk from here once were past the ice  
_@HUNK_ WAKE UP

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 7:25 AM_  
If he’s sleeping let him sleep  
Bet he needs it  
Plus it’s still early over here, it’s not central time anymore

 **PiGForce** _Today at 7:34 AM_  
Yeah yeah  
But what if his dad showed up and carted him away in the night?  
Things happen darky and he’s a cop

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 7:38 AM_  
Lance says to stop freaking out or you’ll freak him out  
He’s fine.

 **PiGForce** _Today at 7:41 AM  
_ ://// Doubt

 **HUNK** _Today at 7:49 AM_  
I’m awake, alive, and still in the same house, sounding off  
I was just making bfast for my hosts like a good guest!

 **PiGForce** _Today at 7:55 AM_  
YOU HAVE TO REPLY FASTER  
@ least until we get there

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 7:57 AM  
_ Lance agrees

 **HUNK** _Today at 7:58 AM_  
Guysss  
I was making omelettes! They’re time-sensitive!

 **PiGForce** _Today at 8:02 AM  
_ Let ‘em burn

 **HUNK** _Today at 8:04 AM_  
😮😮😮😮  
Cant believe u just told me that… to my face… the deception

 **PiGForce** _Today at 8:07 AM  
_ I said what I said

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 8:11 AM_  
Ignore them. Glad you’re still okay.  
Keep us in the loop, alright?  
Lance and I are about 8 hrs out if we can get thru la in decent time  
Don’t do anything wild until we get there.

 **HUNK** _Today at 8:14 AM_  
Aww, okay :)  
Did you and Lance get any sleep??

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 8:16 AM_  
Some  
I’m ready for a real mattress and hes ready for a real shower though  
Forgot that car living was this brutal

 **HUNK** _Today at 8:19 AM_  
😭😭😭  
You can shower and nap as soon as you get here!! Take your time!

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 8:21 AM  
_ Lance says to stop beating yourself up about it

 **PiGForce** _Today at 8:24 AM_  
Word  
Matt’s finally awake, time to give him the updates over pancakes  
I’ll let you guys know when we leave

 **HUNK** _Today at 8:26 AM  
_ 💛💛💛💛

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 8:29 AM_  
Lance is making me send this.  
JPEG_20181123_082918.jpg

 **HUNK** _Today at 8:31 PM  
_ 💙💛💙💛💙💛

 **PiGForce** _Today at 8:35 AM_  
Gag  
Also yeah lol he needs a shower u rite

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 8:37 AM  
_ Lol

* * *

**_Mystic, CA – Fri, Nov 23, 2018, 9:01 AM PST_ **

“Thanks so much for hosting us, ma’am! We really appreciate it.”

The nice hotel lady waved Shiro off as she hung their room keys back on their hook. “No trouble at all. It’s our job, after all.” She shot Shiro a quick smile, just as tired as the night before. “You have a safe rest of your trip, okay?”

“Sure will!” Matt called back, his sister in a passive headlock under his arm once more. “Thanks for breakfast!”

“Anytime!” she called as they walked out the door. Shiro held it open for the siblings, letting their squabbling selves duke it out across the frozen parking lot to their car, looking tiny and lonely with its dingy pickup neighbors long gone. The Holts didn’t comment on it, just threw their bags in the trunk as they fought over who would drive first, Pidge whining about how badly Matt had finished driving yesterday while Matt whined about how bad Pidge drove in general. Pidge won, as usual, so Matt stomped over to the passenger side to slide the chair forward to climb in the back.

Before he could get more than a foot in, though, Shiro caught his shoulder. Matt blinked at him, still grinning from the barb he had just thrown at his sister. Shiro smiled. “I’ll take the back this time,” he said.

Pidge raised their eyebrow over the car at them (a car with was probably the only one every manufactured that was short enough for them to do that flat-footed). “You realize you’re gonna be crammed in there like a beefy sardine, right?” they asked.

Shiro shrugged. “My turn for the grinder, I guess.”

“Well I ain’t gonna fight it!” Matt took his foot out of the car, bowing him in instead. “Your carriage, my good sir.” Shiro deigned a nod at him, crawling and ducking down – _hard_. “Don’t back out now,” Matt joked.

“Don’t tempt me.” Shiro had to sit a little sideways to fit his legs in, grunting when the kick of the seat sliding back knocked into his knee. “Let’s just get there and get it over with.”

“You _do_ realize we’ll probably have to drive back this same way, right?” Pidge said as she started the engine. Shiro groaned; Matt wailed; Pidge cackled and tore out of the lot as fast as the ice would let her.

* * *

**_Auburn, CA – Fri, Nov 23, 2018, 9:15 AM PST_ **

“You know you don’t _have_ to do that, right?”

Hunk looked over his shoulder at an unimpressed Nadia, who was leaning against the kitchen island and eating an apple in a very judge-y way. Hunk shrugged, hands still scrubbing. “I like being busy, s’all.” He turned back to his pan – he had finished washing up from making omelets for his hosts ages ago and was now working his way through their backlog of dishes set on the drying rack.

“Do you _know_ how to chill, man?” She crunched on her apple. “We were ‘posed to _hang out_ an’ lay low until your friends got here, _not_ deep clean the whole ass house.”

Hunk set the pan back on the emptied drying rack and moved on to a caked-up soup pot. “Well, if you guys don’t want me to empty your pantry before noon, you might want to point me in the direction of the Pledge.” He smiled at Nadia’s flat look level in the shining reflection of the oven hood. “I like to bake when I’m stressed, and I kinda have a _lot_ of stress to bake off this weekend.”

Nadia chomped into her apple, teeth almost cutting into the core. “Sal’s gonna be pissed if we kept you here instead of going in to work if you’re just gonna cook for no paying customers.”

“I _did_ try to warn you about that, but you didn’t listen.”

Nadia pulled a face behind her apple. “I wanted to catch up on _Riverdale_ while no one else was here,” she whined through fruit.

Hunk laughed. “Don’t let me stop you. I don’t need-”

“Dude, it’s bad enough that we let you cook _and_ clean breakfast alone! If I let you set up shop in our kitchen all day without helping out, Ryan’d have my _ass_.” She took one more big bite of her apple, then shouldered him aside and crouched a bit to throw it in the tiny compost bin under the sink, washing her hands off in the still-running water. “I’ll dry this stuff for ya, then we’ll see what we got and go to the store if we need to, ‘kay?”

“Oh – you don’t have to do _that-_ ”

She kicked him. “Shut up. If you bake as good as those omelets this morning, then it’s _totally_ worth it.” She winked at him. “Plus, don’t you want to have something for your friends to eat when they get here?”

He smiled, the now-familiar warm tingle washing over him at ‘ _your friends’_. He handed her the clean pot to dry. “You’re right. You guys definitely don’t have enough eggs after breakfast, anyway.”

She laughed, drying with gusto. “I’m always right, don’t act so surprised!”

She joked with him through the rest of the dishes, the warm tingle never really fading away, even when they left the kitchen and climbed in her clanky car with a long grocery list. After all that everyone was doing for him, at least he could feed them in style.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> {A/N: part 1/2 of what we've all been waiting for :D [twitter](http://www.twitter.com/carriecmoney) [tumblr](http://carriecmoney.tumblr.com)}

**_Discord – Voltron Coalition – #shut-up-si – Fri, Sep 22, 2017, 5:34 PM EST_ **

**sirenamor** _Today at 5:34 PM_  
Hey… traffic sucks yall  
I’ve been sitting on this bridge for an HOUR  
I’m gonna be late and it’s not my fault 😿  
And I had to promise terrible things to my bro for the car today  
My life is spiraling downward

 **PiGForce** _Today at 5:45 PM_  
Boo hoo  
Traffic sucks everywhere get over it

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 5:51 PM  
_ I never go downtown for this exact reason.

 **SlavBOHR_626** _Today at 5:55 PM  
_ This is why America should redesign its infrastructure for public transit!

 **shiro** _Today at 5:57 PM_  
sure I’ll loan them a few trillion bucks to rip up all of our roads and make the country inhabitable until 2025  
That’s an appropriate solution.

 **SlavBOHR_626** _Today at 5:57 PM_  
Don’t be so dramatic  
If the population were evacuated it would take much less time!

 **princessplz** _Today at 5:58 PM_  
That’s a tad excessive, slav  
But at least American cities are designed for car traffic… for better or for worse

 **mustachewax573** _Today at 6:00 PM  
_ right you are! can’t count the number of side mirrors I’ve lost against a wall on my way home from the pub

 **PiGForce** _Today at 6:00 PM  
_ that explains why your aim sucks that much

 **mustachewax573** _Today at 6:00 PM_  
I beg your pardon lad!

 **PiGForce** _Today at 6:01 PM  
_ YOUR DRIVING SUCKS OLD MAN!

 **sirenamor** _Today at 6:05 PM_  
Ok I got over the bridge but now I’m stuck in line for the exit  
MIAMI SUCKS EVERYONE STOP MOVING HERRE

 **shiro** _Today at 6:07 PM_  
Can’t be worse than Dallas.  
It just. I refuse to believe ANYWHERE is worse than dallas

 **penNYMAngoes** _Today at 6:09 PM_  
Hmm… doubtful  
Rolo and I are half/half LA/NY

 **PiGForce** _Today at 6:09 PM  
_ YIKES

 **HUNK** _Today at 6:11 PM  
_ Oh man, the few times I’ve gone thru LA were the _worst_

 **penNYMAngoes** _Today at 6:13 PM_  
Yeah we just walk everywhere… esp in ny  (edited)  
We don’t even own a car there, we just leave it down here

 **PiGForce** _Today at 6:13 PM  
_ Smart

 **Sir Vakalla** _Today at 6:14 PM  
_ I work in DC.

 **HUNK** _Today at 6:14 PM  
_ Oh jesus

 **PiGForce** _Today at 6:15 PM  
_ DOUBLE YIKES

 **shiro** _Today at 6:15 PM  
_ Nope, not doing that

 **penNYMAngoes** _Today at 6;15 PM  
_ Oh yeah you win

 **sirenamor** _Today at 6:17 PM_  
Yallll im not gonna get home in time ato be date fresh and on time  
Which is more importnat??

 **PiGForce** _Today at 6:18 PM_  
On time  
Also: stop asking us for dating advice

 **sirenamor** _Today at 6:20 PM  
_ Never

 **penNYMAngoes** _Today at 6:20 PM  
_ I dunno… if you tell her you’ll be late, and it’s not too long, take a shower first

 **HUNK** _Today at 6:20 PM  
_ I’m w nyma, sorry p

 **princessplz** _Today at 6:21 PM_  
Same… as long as it’s not more than half an hour late  
Is it a first date?

 **mustachewax573** _Today at 6:21 PM  
_ always put your best olfactory step forward!

 **sirenamor** _Today at 6:24 PM_  
I DONT STINK YALL  
I never stink!  
I just like to be FreshTM

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 6:28 PM  
_ I’m with pidge actually… in that you need to stop asking us for advice

 **sirenamor** _Today at 6:29 PM  
_ RUDE

 **princessplz** _Today at 6:31 PM  
_ Break down the schedule for me.

 **sirenamor** _Today at 6:33 PM  
_ Six thirty now. Im supposed to pick him up @ 7 and he’s 15 min away from home

 **princessplz** _Today at 6:33 PM_  
Oooh that IS close  
Have you talked to her today yet?

 **sirenamor** _Today at 6:35 PM_  
Him  
We’ve texted by the doesn’t know im late

 **princessplz** _Today at 6:35 PM_  
Hmmm  
Well you might be late anyway so I’d go ahead and warn him now, and if you get home in time wash face/change clothes but not a full shower? That should be enough.  
Are you going to be doing something to get sweaty later anyway?

 **sirenamor** _Today at 6:38 PM  
_ You know it princess ;)

 **PiGForce** _Today at 6:38 PM  
_ Ew

 **sirenamor** _Today at 6:39 PM  
_ Srsly yes

 **princessplz** _Today at 6:39 PM  
_ You and your foul boy mouth can keep out of this, you thought he shouldn’t clean up FOR A DATE

 **sirenamor** _Today at 6:39PM_  
It’s a concert outside  
And second date

 **PiGForce** _Today at 6:40 PM  
_ Its not like I claimed to understand allo culture!

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 6:41 PM  
_ isn’t it better to stick to what you said you’d do?

 **princessplz** _Today at 6:41 PM_  
VETOED  
_@penNYMAngoes_ keep them in line for me

 **penNYMAngoes** _Today at 6:41 PM  
_ Yes ma’am

 **princessplz** _Today at 6:41 PM  
_ Lance, how close are you to home?

 **sirenamor** _Today at 6:42 PM_  
Just got here  
Whats my target

 **princessplz** _Today at 6:42 PM_  
Clothes, face, deodorant  
Don’t overthink what you’re wearing just go with your gut

 **sirenamor** _Today at 6:43 PM  
_ K pulling now

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 6:44 PM_  
For the record, this is ridiculous

 **HUNK** _Today at 6:45 PM  
_ I’m just glad he’s not asking me for help lmao, allura is much better at this

 **princessplz** _Today at 6:45 PM  
_ Aw, thanks hunk

 **shiro** _Today at 6:45 PM_  
Next date I have I’m getting you to plan it lol  
Also. Be nice keith.

 **penNYMAngoes** _Today at 6:46 PM  
_ I’m entertained at least

 **sirenamor** _Today at 6:49 PM_  
Date ready y/n?  
JPEG_2020170922_184912.jpg

 **princessplz** _Today at 6:50 PM  
_ Jacket?

 **sirenamor** _Today at 6:50 PM  
_ Babe it’s 85f and 85% humidity

 **princessplz** _Today at 6:51 PM_  
Then go  
Got everything? Keys etc?

 **sirenamor** _Today at 6:52 PM  
_ Almost forgot tickets!!

 **penNYMAngoes** _Today at 6:52 PM  
_ Lol

 **mustachewax573** _Today at 6:53 PM  
_ olfactories appeased?

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 6:54 PM  
_ The fuck

 **PiGForce** _Today at 6:55 PM  
_ Translation: does he smell good

 **sirenamor** _Today at 6:55 PM_  
Like sunshine and daisies  
Back in the car, love all of you  <3  
Except p and darky

 **PiGForce** _Today at 6:57 PM  
_ :P

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 6:57 PM  
_ I can live with that.

 **sirenamor** _Today at 6;58 PM  
_ Love u the most tho princess!!

 **princessplz** _Today at 6:58 PM  
_ GO YOURE LATE

 **sirenamor** _Today at 6:58 PM  
_ GONE BABE

* * *

**_I-210 W, Mile Marker 21, CA – Fri, Nov 23, 2018, 9:31 AM PST_ **

“ _God,_ you couldn’t _pay_ me to drive through this place _ever_ again! And this is a holiday _morning!_ ”

Keith laughed from the passenger seat, sipping on their last Gatorade. “That’s LA traffic for you.”

Lance growled and stuck his hand out of the window, rolled down to capture the pleasant Southern California warmth, and gave the finger to the general direction of Los Angeles proper. A car screaming past them honked as it went; Lance laid on his horn in return. “¡Que cabrón eres!” he yelled into the wind.

Keith laughed – he had been laughing a disturbing amount since his dawn meltdown, and Lance couldn’t figure out if it was good or not. “Never pegged you for the road rage type, babe.”

“It’s the city driving, it just pulls out the angry Cuban grandpa in me-” He gasped, flicking as long of a glance as he dared at Keith in the crowded freeway traffic. “Did you just _babe_ me, babe?”

Keith hid whatever his mouth was doing behind his almost empty Gatorade. “Maybe.” Lance bit his tongue and held out his hand, left one still steering. Keith stared at it. “Is… am I supposed to high-five you over a pet name?”

Lance groaned, hand flopping to the gearshift. “You’re supposed to _hold_ it, since we’re – doing whatever we’re doing.”

Keith snorted. “No thanks. You need to drive right.”

Lance wrinkled his nose. “So is that a no to hand-holding in _general_ , or just right now?” He glanced over and caught Keith’s unimpressed stare. “ _What?”_

“Do you need me to, like, write up a kink negotiation sheet or-” Lance choked, coughing on his own spit. Keith just watched like a _monster_. “Hairball?” he asked.

“Fuck – _off!_ ” Keith pounded his back, hand sliding down Lance’s arm as it left, heat waves shivering in its wave. “I hate you,” he wheezed out.

“Sure you do.” Keith’s bangs fluttered in the wind – despite his promises, Lance’s expert braid was holding up fairly well, thank you very much. “I guess… do _you_ want me to… hold your hand?” he asked, fiddling with the Gatorade bottle label.

Lance swallowed. “Well… it kind of comes with the package, doesn’t it?” He glanced over to see Keith chewing on his lip, eyes fixed on the fraying label. “Unless… I mean, I know we said we were gonna hold out on the _real_ dating stuff until shit was normal again, so if you don’t want to for now-”

“I don’t _know_ if I don’t want to,” Keith blurted out. Lance blinked at the road, eyes scanning the bumper stickers of the minivan in front of them without reading them. Keith sighed, dragging a hand through his hair and pulling some of it out of its braid. “Look… I’ve never really _dated_ before,” he said, “not like – not like you do. Most of my past relationships have been pretty short and – pretty volatile. I’ve never really had someone who wanted to go for a walk holding hands or any of that shit.” He chomped on the lip of the Gatorade bottle. “But you make me wanna try,” he said, words almost snatched away and blown down the freeway without Lance catching them.

Lance took a deep breath to try and ease the tight squeeze on his throat. He rolled up both of the windows with the driver’s side buttons, startling Keith a bit as he cut out the outside noise back to just them and muted Paramore. “Okay.” Keith blinked at him, front teeth hooked over plastic. Lance pushed on, “How ‘bout I list out stuff dating people do together, and you tell me your opinions on it?”

A slow smile blossomed across Keith’s face, too wide to hide it in full behind his safety bottle. “That sounds doable.”

“Great!” Lance cleared his throat. “So, holding hands?”

Keith thought about it – harder and longer than anyone should ever think about such a basic romantic gesture, long enough for Siri to talk Lance through yet another interstate merge as they continued north, leaving Los Angeles steadily behind. Finally, Keith sighed and resettled in his seat. “Not… I don’t think I’d like it just because,” he said, each word a slow drip. “I like using my hands to, like, live and stuff.” He peeled off what was left of the label. “And maybe not yet?” He huffed. “We’re gonna get enough shit showing up uninjured and getting along after three days together in a car, let’s ease the team into us being… more than that.”

Lance grimaced. “Pidge is gonna kill us for it, you’re right.”

“Shiro too, dear Lord.” Keith laughed, drumming rough fingers on plastic. “He used to say-” He bit his lips together hard, crunching the bottle in his hand and _no, down Lance, don’t._ “He’s gonna be a _shit_ about it,” he growled.

“At least Hunk’ll probably be chill.” Lance tapped the steering wheel. “Okay, pop quiz – if you had to choose, hypothetically, between dating me and tax-marrying Hunk or whatever-”

“Hunk. Any day.”

Lance laughed, holding out his hand for a high-five on reflex. “Same, bro, same. No offense, but he’s the most important in my life, y’know?”

Keith stared at his hand, still waiting. “I know.”

Lance’s arm fell just a bit to prop his elbow on the armrest, but stayed laid out idly, not really leading for anything anymore. They were through another active city area and passing through rich suburbia now, the traffic heavy but free-flowing and simple. “Okay, so, undecided on hand-holding, that’s cool.” He pushed on, “What about, like, flowers and shit?”

“I don’t own a vase? They’d just die.” Lance barked a laugh, and Keith bristled. “What?”

“You’re such an adorable little wolfman, I love it.” Keith grumbled some more, and Lance grinned, face hurting from it. “No presents you can’t eat or need to take care of, got it.”

Keith shifted, switching from sitting normally to leaning more on the armrest, staring at Lance’s profile. “You know you don’t have to try this hard, right?” he asked, voice low and rough. “We’re not even – this might not even work out after the trauma’s past and we’re not trapped in the same car. Like, what if this really is just a physical thing and we go back to fighting for real all the time when it’s just Discord again?”

Lance hummed, staring straight ahead and trying not to let the knots his stomach was twisting into show on his face. “I mean – that _could_ still happen, you’re right. It’s not like we liked each other before this-”

“I always thought you were kinda hot.” Lance whipped to stare at him, car swerving a little bit in the lane, but Keith just shrugged, eyes fixed on his fingers as they played with each other, bangs in his face. “You’re – you’re a _little_ bit my type,” he muttered.

“ _Babe!_ ” Keith scowled, but Lance grabbed his twisting fingers before he could retreat back into his wolfman shell. “That’s the nicest thing you’ve _ever_ said to me!”

“Don’t get used to it.” Lance laughed, looking back to the road. Keith’s hands moved in his grip; Lance relaxed his hold, but Keith took his hand before he could let go, not quite _holding_ his hand, but tracing over his knuckles with rough fingertips, memorizing the creases. Lance swallowed, a nervous chuckle bubbling out.

“You had an advantage on me, though! You _never_ send any selfies to the server, so I had no warning for what I’d have to deal with all week! It’s not fair!”

“I can try harder, if you want.” He turned Lance’s hand and pressed a light kiss to his palm, dry and warm. Lance squeaked. “Is this… okay?” Keith asked, breath ghosting down Lance’s wrist under his loose sweatshirt sleeves.

“ _Yes!_ ” he choked out. “But not while I’m _driving_ , you cretin!” Keith chuckled and released his hand so Lance could slam it back on the wheel. “I swear to God, next stop we get I’m kissing the _shit_ out of you.”

“That’s fine.” Keith grinned, flipping his bangs from his eyes with a head-flip and was he _trying_ to kill Lance when they were going eighty miles an hour? “I don’t take what I can’t give back, after all.”

“You-!” Keith laughed, head thrown back against the seat, shoulders shaking. Lance grumbled some more and let him have it.

* * *

**_Discord – Voltron Coalition – #selfie-stick – Mon, Oct 31, 2016, 7:38 PM EST_ **

**sirenamor** _Today at 7:38 PM_  
Wait no more, my audience, for the annual mcclain/espinosa Halloween collab has arrived!🎃👹💀☠️👻🧛♀️🧛♂️🧞♀️🧚♀️🕷️🍬🍭🍫  
JPEG_20161031_165719.jpg  
The kids wanted to be pokemon so me and Rachel are their professors👩🏫

 **princessplz** _Today at 7:57 PM  
_ How adorable!

 **PiGForce** _Today at 8:12 PM_  
Lil frog boy is still my soulmate  
As darky would say, bless his heart

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 8:15 PM  
_ Have I ever actually said that?

 **sirenamor** _Today at 8:21 PM_  
Sylvio worked very hard on his bubbles  
And we have a long distance participant this year too!  
Right _@HUNK_????

 **HUNK** _Today at 8:25 PM_  
I see what you want from me and I wish I had the mental stamina to say no  
JPEG_20161029_173248.jpg 💖3👍5  
My uni friends invited me to a dorm party on sat and this was easy :)

 **sirenamor** _Today at 8:31 PM  
_ HELP IVE FALLEN AND I CANT GET UP💞💕💓💖💘💘

 **shiro** _Today at 8:33 PM  
_ Looks great!

 **HUNK** _Today at 8:34 PM_  
Thanks! I don’t usually do the beard haha, I grew it out a little for this  
I already shaved it off, it was itchy and my parents weren’t huge fans

 **sirenamor** _Today at 8:45 PM  
_ Lift me in your glorious arms you hunk of a man

 **PiGForce** _Today at 8:45 PM  
_ gag

 **Plax The Mermaid 🧜♀️** _Today at 8:46 PM  
_ Oh! Hunk! I get it now!

 **princessplz** _Today at 8:53 PM  
_ it looks lovely

 **PiGForce** _Today at 8:54 PM  
_ ok so when are you gonna make the al armor so we can be ed and al for real tho

 **HUNK** _Today at 8:55 PM_  
Lol I’ll get right on that  
You gonna come out to cali for that?

 **PiGForce** _Today at 8:57 PM_  
I mean I could...  
there are many cons for us to meet up at out there

 **shiro** _Today at 8:57 PM  
_ Don’t go to san diego, not worth it

 **PiGForce** _Today at 8:57 PM  
_ YOUVE BEEN TO SDCC????

 **shiro** _Today at 8:58 PM  
_ Not on purpose haha

 **PiGForce** _Today at 8:58 PM_  
SHIRO YOURE THE WORST  
GOD I HATE YOU

 **HUNK** _Today at 8:59 PM  
_ I’ll take you there one day p, promise

 **PiGForce** _Today at 9:02 PM_  
>:CCC  
holding u to that punk  
shiro has to come too so he can suffer

 **shiro** _Today at 9:05 PM  
_ Haven’t I suffered enough?

 **sirenamor** _Today at 9:18 PM_  
Be nice to my babe! Stop yelling at him!!  
JPEG_20181031_211517.jpg  
the haord🍬🍭

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 9:21 PM  
_ That’s evil.

 **sirenamor** _Today at 9:22 PM_  
You’re just jealous  
And iF U THINK UR MEETING MY MIAN BAE BEFOR I DO YALLVE GOT ANOTHER THINK COMING  
(as darky would say)

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 9:24 PM  
_ Ok I KNOW ive never said that here

 **sirenamor** _Today at 9:24 PM  
_ But you HAVE said it I can tell

 **PiGForce** _Today at 9:26 PM  
_ si do we need to duel again so I can kick your ass AGAIN (edited)

 **sirenamor** _Today at 9:26 PM  
@PiGForce _ I HAVE THE POWER OF GOD AND ANIME ON MY SIDE

 **HUNK** _Today at 9:26 PM  
_ We just need to all meet up @ the same time 🌞

 **sirenamor** _Today at 9:27 PM_  
Hunk you magnificent land mermaid  
When I finally get a real ass job the first thing I’m saving up for is a cali trip

 **HUNK** _Today at 9:28 PM  
_ Aww💛

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 9:29 PM  
_ Y’all have fun with that.

 **shiro** _Today at 9:31 PM  
_ Yeah youre def coming with us.

 **PiGForce** _Today at 9:31 PM  
_ lololol

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 9:32 PM_  
What?  
Shiro… Why

 **shiro** _Today at 9:33 PM  
_ Because.

 **PiGForce** _Today at 9:33 PM  
_ LOLOLOL

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 9:33 PM  
_ Whatever.

 **shiro** _Today at 9:34 PM  
_ Hed love to meet you too, hunk ;)

 **HUNK** _Today at 9:34 PM  
_ Hhahaha I can feel the love

 **PiGForce** _Today at 9:37 PM  
@sirenamor _ log in so I can kick your ass all over elwynn

 **sirenamor** _Today at 9:39 PM_  
Candy now, sugar coma later, I’m all booked up  
It’s the only reason ray and I do this anyway

 **PiGForce** _Today at 9:41 PM_  
fine I’ll fly to cali while youre passed out  
shiro and darky can come too

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 9:42 PM  
_ Leave me out of this.

 **shiro** _Today at 9:43 PM_  
Nope.  
Road trip

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 9:44 PM_  
I’ll kill every one of you.  
Except hunk. Your safe.

 **HUNK** _Today at 9:46 PM  
_ Aww! Thanks bud

 **sirenamor** _Today at 9:48 PM  
_ The wolfman DOES have a human side!

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 9:52 PM_  
I’m going to bed.

 **PiGForce** _Today at 9:55 PM_  
I’m booking airfare  
Well ok I’m not but it’s fun to look

 **sirenamor** _Today at 9:56 PM  
_ I know right?

 **HUNK** _Today at 9:58 PM_  
💛🧡💛🧡 lol  
See you guys when you get here then ;)

 **PiGForce** _Today at 10:06 PM  
_ Yeah you will

* * *

**_Auburn, CA – Fri, Nov 23, 2018, 11:35 AM PST_ **

“Holy shit, we’re in _single digit minutes_ to get there. _Finally!_ ”

Pidge rolled his eyes at Matt, who was grinning at the directions on his phone as Pidge drove through Hunk’s small town. It was cute, in a mountain suburb sort of way, only the occasional palm tree reminding them they were in California. The address Hunk had given them that morning was in a neighborhood on the outskirts of town, Google’s route winding past dog parks and brick walled lawns in the light rain from the interstate exit. They hadn’t stopped since the cabin inn in the woods, and Pidge was jittery, his stomach twisting on nothing as Matt’s phone’s soothing voice directed him through the neighborhood, layered over Shiro and Matt’s chatter about the weather and the Mystery Skulls loop their music was caught in. His nerves knew this whole journey-adventure was about to end, and they were firing on all cylinders in all directions with no focus. What if he and Hunk didn’t get along in person after all? What if he was weird about… _her?_ What if this whole thing was a big scam and they were all walking into some weird cult trap-

He shook himself out of it, barely making the next directed turn. Spiraling was Lance’s job. Hunk was a good dude in a rough spot who would never fall for a cult, and they were all here to smooth it out. That was all.

“I was promised California sunshine! Why is it _rainy_ and _cold?_ ”

Shiro laughed at Matt’s whining. “Because the world conspires against you and only you, Holt.” He nudged Matt’s shoulder from the backseat. “At least it’s not snowing, yeah?”

Matt groaned, collapsing back into his seat. “No sympathy at all,” he drawled. Shiro chuckled. Matt elbowed Pdige’s arm. “Back me up, sis. Aren’t you upset by the rain?”

“Mmm?” He made another directed turn just a hair too late for passenger comfort. “Mostly ‘bout how no one in this state can drive in it,” he grumbled, flipping off the slow car that had blocked the street sign from Pidge’s view, even though they couldn’t see his gesture. “They act like it’s the second coming instead of just a little drizzle.”

Shiro laughed at him. “Can’t be worse than Texans,” he said. “Of course, at least when it rains down there it _rains_.”

“And it could be snowing!” Matt piped up.

“At least then they’d be _off_ the road,” Pidge grumbled. “Then they’d be out of my-”

 _“You have arrived at your destination._ ”

Pidge slammed on the brakes hard enough to send everything in the car sliding forward a full foot. Matt braced on the dashboard as Shiro banged into both of their seats. “ _Jesus,_ Pidge!” Matt swore. “You _trying_ to kill us?”

Pidge didn’t hear him, staring at the cute little brick house that they had almost passed. It had the right numbers on the post by the door. The boxwoods needed trimming. _Hunk was there_.

Pidge turned on a penny, swinging into the cracked driveway that could use some _serious_ Roundup treatment, squeezing in next to a silver Taurus. His hands shook as he killed the engine and fumbled with the seatbelt, Matt still chattering away. He didn’t hear, didn’t hear, didn’t _hear_ -

A heavy weight pressed on his shoulder. He whipped around to stare at Shiro, who was smiling at him with the gentle calm of a spring mountain. “Let’s go say hey, okay?” Pidge gulped – nodded. Opened the door.

The front door of the house squeaked open as Shiro climbed out, Matt holding him steady as he got his sea legs under him again. A girl with dreads and glasses poked her head out, holding onto the door frame with one hand. “Hey! You guys here for Hunk?” she called. Someone must have nodded – Pidge was shaking enough for it to count – because she called back into the house, “Hunk! Visitors!”

Pidge came around the car, feet following the paving stone path to the steps up to the poured concrete porch, rain dropping into his hair. Shiro and Matt must have done the same, but it all fell away as the door girl moved aside for a new figure to step out, wiping something from his face.

Hunk grinned at them. “Hey! You’re here earl-”

Pidge launched himself at Hunk, arms around his neck and feet off the ground. “Whoa!” A big hand settled on his back as Hunk laughed, deep and savory. “Pidge?” he asked.

Pidge squeezed his neck tighter, legs dangling. “Shut up and let me hug you, bitch.”

Hunk snorted. “Aw, yeah, sure thing, buddy.” He was so _big –_ no wonder he tanked. He squeezed Pidge with one arm, and something warm and wet burst in Pidge’s chest. Pidge hid his face in Hunk’s sweatshirt.

“Seems like you’ve got yourself a barnacle,” Shiro’s happy voice said from behind Pidge. Hunk shrugged under Pidge, and Shiro chuckled. “Hey, man. Good to see you in one piece.”

Hunk laughed. “Better’n you, yeah?” A beat of shocked silence. “Oh my _God_ I am _so_ sorry-”

Shiro laughed, belly-full and the loudest Pidge had heard from him all trip. Matt’s nervous giggles bubbled underneath as Pidge slammed his fist into Hunk’s shoulder – Hunk didn’t even flinch. Pidge let Hunk go, dropping down to his own two feet and glaring at him. Shiro moved in for his own hug before Pidge could launch into a lecture, though, clapping a blabbering, red-faced Hunk on the back. The door girl bit her knuckles trying not to laugh. When Shiro grinned at Hunk and ruffled his hair, pulled back from his face with a headband, Pidge couldn’t quite muster up the death glare Hunk was supposed to deserve.

“Don’t worry about it, man. You’re right, after all.” Hunk sputtered some more, but Shiro moved on to say hi to the door girl.

Matt jumped up the three steps in one go to pump Hunk’s hand like an overeager real estate agent. “Hey! Man, I’ve heard so much about you, it’s good to finally meet you! I’m Matt – this one’s brother!” He hooked Pidge in a headlock, dragging him back to the party with a squawk. “Man, you’re a hard guy to catch!”

Hunk grinned, a little lopsided. “Uh – thanks? And I’ve heard a lot about you, too. Nice to finally put a face to the stories.”

Matt laughed, a loud bark. “I dunno what my sis has told you, but it’s all true!”

Pidge pushed him off, face burning. “Quit it, dweeb,” he growled, kicking Matt in the shin.

“Aww, Pidge!” Hunk beamed at them, hands clasped together. “You should’ve warned me you were _cute!_ ”

It was Pidge’s turn to red-faced sputter as Matt cackled. “ _What?_ ” he screeched.

Hunk gestured nonsensically, hands not committing to any one motion. “Yeah, you’re like – like a little bunny, or-” He jerked his head around to stare into the house, the rest of his body a half-turn behind. “ _My muffins_ ,” he gasped, running back inside.

Door girl snorted from where she and Shiro were talking. “You guys better come on in, then,” she said, jerking her head at the door. “Your friend’s been baking _all day_ , and I’m actually getting sick of taste-testing.”

“Ah, shit, free food? _Hell_ yeah.” Matt dove in after Hunk, barely pausing to kick off his boots inside the door.

Shiro rolled his eyes. “Sorry about him,” he told door girl. “I didn’t raise him.”

She flapped her hand. “Manners are overrated, anyway.” She led the way in, calling back, “C’mon, you’re letting the heat out!”

Shiro smiled, but paused at Pidge’s side, laying his hand on Pidge’s shoulder. “You okay?” he asked, voice low and touch steady. Pidge swallowed and nodded, wiping his face on his shoulder. Shiro patted his shoulder. “Come on,” he said, stepping over the threshold. “Let’s get out of the rain. I haven’t had Hunk’s baking in months.”

Pidge cleared his throat. “Bet it’s way better when it hasn’t spent a week on a mail truck.”

Shiro beamed as he held the door for Pidge to pass by to the heated indoors. “I bet you’re right.” He closed the door behind them.

* * *

**_Auburn, CA – Fri, Nov 23, 2018, 12:27 PM PST_ **

It was weird, feeling this happy after the chaos and stress of the last few days. Maybe Hunk could only reach this high after hitting that low. But now, watching Nadia and Pidge’s brother hit it off like a house on fire as they played chubby bunny on nightmare mode with leftover candy pumpkins, sitting next to Shiro as he stirred his coffee with a biscotti absently, he felt like liquid gold in a human skin, a second sun to put Tatooine to shame. Like a fresh lemon cake.

Pidge came back from their bathroom trip and walked straight into Hunk’s side, forehead against his bicep and hugging his arm with both of her stick ones. Hunk smiled down at their fluffy honey-brown hair – they were so _little_ , and he _adored_ it. “Hey, bud,” he said behind his coffee mug. “Doin’ okay?”

They nodded, more hair than head. Hunk glanced over at Shiro, who was watching the interaction from the corner of his eye. They exchanged a look; Shiro smiled, dark eyes crinkling. Shiro’s biscotti crumbled from too much soaked-in coffee, and he cursed under his breath, attention diverted to fishing out soaked crumbs from his black coffee. Hunk chuckled.

“Laugh all you want,” Shiro grumbled, frowning at his ruined drink. “I’ll get you back.”

“Oh yeah? Like how?”

Shiro smirked at him as he reached for a discarded, mostly-clean spoon from the improvised bakery that the island had become with his prosthetic. “I won’t let you figure out how _this_ works,” he teased, flexing the cables bared on his forearm to grab the spoon and pull it back, taking it with his other hand to start straining out the crumbs.

Hunk pouted. “No _fair_. You _know_ I wanna know!”

Shiro grinned. “You engineer types are all the same,” he commented. “Can’t sit still until you know how the new things are put together.” He gestured at Hunk’s barnacle with the spoon, flicking coffee across the counter. “That one didn’t even wait until we’d been properly introduced to pick it apart.”

“I’m _right here_ ,” Pidge mumbled into Hunk’s arm, but didn’t let go or argue Shiro’s point. Hunk laughed.

“I’m sure he didn’t!” Pidge’s fingers dug into his forearm. “So, the drive wasn’t too bad, then?”

Shiro shrugged with his left shoulder only. “A little cramped, but we made do.” He gave up the fight against the soggy crumbs and just drank his cooling coffee with the bits floating in it, raising an eyebrow at Hunk over the mug’s rim. “You thought about what you’re gonna do now?” he asked.

Hunk sighed, but the familiar stomach knot didn’t tie itself quite as tightly as before. “I dunno, man,” he admitted, running his free hand through his hair. “I mean, I feel like… like I gotta go back? At least to talk to my mom, see how she’s doing. Get some stuff so I don’t have to start _totally_ from scratch.” He spun his half-full mug by the handle. “The last few days have been – rough,” he admitted to the circles in his cream, “But… but I don’t think I’m scared anymore.”

“That’s good.” Shiro laid his prosthetic forearm on Hunk’s wrist, which shouldn’t be comforting in theory, but it made the tension in Hunk’s spine melt away. “We’ll help you figure it out, okay?”

Hunk beamed. “Thanks, Shiro.” He turned his hand over to grip Shiro’s hook, two fingers catching on the loop. “Tanks for life?”

Shiro laughed. “Tanks for life,” he sounded off.

“You should come home with me!” Pidge blurted out, snapping back from their hiding spot in Hunk’s arm. He blinked at them, round hazel eyes glaring up at him and freckly jaw set. “Just transfer to my school and leave this dump,” they pressed on, nails starting to bite into Hunk’s inner arm. “Mom’ll make them take your credits, there’s like a billion scholarships to apply for-”

“One thing at a time, puggle.” Shiro’s hook closed around Hunk’s fingers for a second. “The next twenty-four hours first, then the plan after that.”

Hunk couldn’t break away from Pidge’s freckles, stark against their worked-up flush. “You want me to move to _Iowa?_ ” he breathed. Pidge nodded with a little _hmph_. “But… but I don’t own _any_ snow gear?”

Pidge snorted, hard enough to spray. “You can _buy_ snow gear, idiot. And you can stay in Matt’s room, he’s never home anymore.”

Matt tried to say something about that, but his mouth was full of stale orange sugar, so he just choked and gagged, slimy pumpkins popping out onto the kitchen floor. Nadia laughed as much as her stuffed mouth would let her, fists in the air, her triumphant cheers muffled by her winning mouthful. Pidge yelled at their brother for being gross, still clutching Hunk’s arm. Shiro shook his head, hook flexing idly in Hunk’s hand.

“Don’t work yourself up about it yet,” he said to Hunk, leaning in to speak under the din of the rest of the kitchen. “When Keith and Lance get here, we’ll strategize for real.”

Hunk nodded – right. “Right! Them!” He extracted himself from the vices on both sides of him, digging out his phone as he stood. “Has anyone told Lance you guys are here yet? I need to start the marinade-”

Nadia groaned, spitting most of her mouthful straight into the garbage. Matt was on his knees on the floor, picking up a truly distressing amount of candy pumpkins from the tile. “Great,” she whined, wiping her mouth on her sleeve. “More cooking.”

“I’ll help,” Shiro said, abandoning his coffee and standing.

“Me too!” Pidge chirped, following Hunk close enough to touch him when they wanted.

“Hunk, my good man, if you know what’s best for you, you won’t let _either_ of them near a stove,” Matt offered from the floor, grinning up at them all. “Shiro burns ramen, and Pidgey’s-”

Pidge kicked him in the ribs, hard and fast. Matt groaned and grabbed them around the knees, bringing them down to his level and rolling around with a lot of squeaks and elbows. Hunk clutched his stomach, second sun escaping in gulping breaths between teary laughter.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> {A/N: It's finally here!! Mad props to my bro John for the Spanish once again :D I don't have hover translations on this one because it's not a conversation but a (short) DM thread and therefore easier to google translate, but the gist of it should be easy to get through context clues and such. [twitter](http://www.twitter.com/carriecmoney) [tumblr](http://carriecmoney.tumblr.com)}

**_Discord – Direct Message @darkwolfboy @HUNK – Tue, Jan 9, 2018, 1:34 AM CST_ **

**HUNK** _Today at 1:34 AM_  
Hey  
R u still up?

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 1:37 AM_  
Yeah?  
I was about to crash tho

 **HUNK** _Today at 1:37 AM_  
Sorry  
Its nothing go to bed  
Its not important

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 1:37 AM_  
Fuck that  
Talk to me.

 **HUNK** _Today at 1:38 AM_  
Sorry  
Normally id talk to lance but hes asleep  
But I just had a fight w my dad and it never ends well and im not doing good and I just  
Im sorry

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 1:41 AM_  
Oh  
What do you need?

 **HUNK** _Today at 1:41 AM  
_ A distraction

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 1:42 AM  
_ First: are you safe? At home or not?

 **HUNK** _Today at 1:43 AM_  
Cooling off at a dennys  
Ill go back when hes asleep

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 1:45 AM_  
You know you don’t have to go back.  
You can leave.

 **HUNK** _Today at 1:47 AM_  
Where would I go??  
Theres no fam in this stupid country and none of my irl friends have known me long enough or care enough to pick me up at midnight on a mon  
Ive never even had a job  
I dont have a car  
Keith what do I DO  
Where do I GO

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 1:51 AM_  
Breathe first.  
Drink some water.  
There are always options.

 **HUNK** _Today at 1:52 AM_  
My dad’s a fucking cop what options are there that he doesnt know about?  
This is fucked up I just want to finish school and gt a good job that me and mom can live on  
Why wont he ever leave me alone??

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 1:55 AM_  
Because he’s a shitty control freak w an inferiority complex  
And you’re better than him.

 **HUNK** _Today at 1:56 AM  
_ You don’t know that

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 1:56 AM_  
Fuck yeah I do  
You’re the best guy ive ever met and dont fucking forget it

 **HUNK** _Today at 1:57 AM_  
Thanks  
Fuck im sorry for dumping all this dad stuff on you… I know dad stuff is hard for u

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 1:58 AM_  
Honestly, shit dad is worse than no dad  
Like mine wasn’t the worst, he tried and I love him and it fucking sucks that hes gone  
But this is worse.

 **HUNK** _Today at 2:00 AM_  
How is this worse?  
You have to live on your own and I know foster care for teens fucking sucks and im sorry

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 2:01 AM_  
Stop apologizing.  
My dad didn’t deserve to die, but yours does

 **HUNK** _Today at 2:03 AM  
_ Keith!!

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 2:03 AM  
_ Look its late and I have no filter and im not sorry.

 **HUNK** _Today at 2:04 AM  
_ You usually have a filter?

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 2:04 AM  
_ Lol

 **HUNK** _Today at 2:04 AM  
_ You should sleep.

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 2:05 AM  
_ Not until you’re okay.

 **HUNK** _Today at 2:05 AM  
_ Its like 2am, don’t u have work tmrw?

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 2:05 AM_  
Def not as important as this  
If youre not going to leave him tonight and you think its safe, you should go home… get some rest and plan  
If you give me a few days warning I can be there to help you really leave next time.

 **HUNK** _Today at 2:07 AM_  
You don’t have to!! That’s such a long drive omg  
I already feel bad enough keeping you up ;_;

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 2:08 AM_  
And I told you not to.  
Ive got nothing keeping me here anyway  
And if youre not gonna kick your dads ass then I can be your standin

 **HUNK** _Today at 2:09 AM  
_ Darkyyy stop going rogue

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 2:10 AM_  
Nope.  
My dad would want me to  
My mom would def want me to

 **HUNK** _Today at 2:11 AM_  
Lol  
Okay im heading home now  
Youre right… I need to plan at least a little if I was really going to… do that  
Also u kno that lance has first dibs on my escape route right?

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 2:14 AM_  
Fuck him  
And im staying right here until you get home safe.

 **HUNK** _Today at 2:18 AM  
_ Be nice.

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 2:19 AM  
_ Not to him.

 **HUNK** _Today at 2:20 AM_  
:(  
Hey… thanks btw

 **darkwolfboy** _Today at 2:23 AM  
_ Of course. Don’t even worry about it.

* * *

**_I-5 N, Mile Marker 449, CA – Fri, Nov 23, 2018, 1:57 PM PST_ **

The southern California sun had been hidden by the clouds at least an hour ago, the wind picking up as Keith and Lance headed steadily north. It was a welcome change after going west and only west for days, but it wasn’t fun to be back in the cold after seventy and sunny in those Los Angeles hours. Keith unrolled his flannel’s sleeves as he leant back against the car, watching the numbers on the gas pump tick up. He would really need to find some work once he and Hunk figured out where they were settling down, but luckily, car mechanics were a universal need. Maybe he could train Hunk up on it, too.

He pulled out his phone, his other hand clenched around the pump. The one unread bubble on his text message app was staring at him, tiny and red and strange. He frowned as he opened the app, staring at the text preview without opening the conversation like he had been doing since he got the text a few hours ago. Was he supposed to…

The pump kicked back. He put his phone in his back pocket to dock the gas pump in its holder, closing the gas cap and ripping out the receipt. He glanced at the station’s doors – Lance was heading back from his bathroom break, yanking up his hood with a pout against the chill. Keith _should_ be annoyed by that.

“Why is this entire ass country so _butt_ cold this week?” he whined, tugging on the strings of his hoodie. Instead of climbing back in the warm car, though, Lance slid in next to Keith, just a little too close, and buttoned up Keith’s flannel for him as he rambled about the weather and Keith’s ineffective protection against it. Keith tuned him out, caught up in the pull of his fingers on his buttons and the light freckles on his cheeks and the hair lifted from his forehead by the breeze.

Lance stopped at the next to last button before the top, fingers slipping around to straighten his collar, cold knuckles brushing Keith’s neck. Keith shivered and yanked away, frowning down at his phone again instead of facing Lance’s ocean sky. Lance didn’t seem to notice anything Keith had done in the last thirty seconds, calling shotgun and jogging around the car without even a teasing comment, acting like a _normal_ person instead of whatever touch-starved statue Keith kept turning into. Keith glared at his phone screen and that damn text preview as he got into the driver’s seat, reaching down for the seat adjustment bar and kicking it forward a _little_ harder than necessary. This was absolutely _ridiculous_ -

“Hey, something wrong, babe?” Keith jerked at the ‘babe’, blinking at a concerned Lance, who was watching him with a raised eyebrow as he buckled in. “You’ve been a serious space cadet all afternoon. Are you sure you’re good to drive?”

Keith’s lip curled. “I’m _fine_.” Lance’s other eyebrow joined the first. Keith sighed. “Sorry, just… tired.” Lance propped his elbow on the armrest and his chin in his hand, waiting. Keith sighed again and unlocked his phone. “It’s just… Kole texted me,” he said. (Talking about the authority figure issues he was shoving down like clapbacks at a customer was easier than explaining how every move Lance made sent silver flower petals spiraling through his belly.) “He _hates_ texting,” he went on, opening the text at last. “Told me once it was the Devil’s revenge on the blue collar worker who lost all feeling in their fingers from good honest work.” He wrinkled his nose and handed the phone to Lance. “But he _texted_ me.”

Lance took the phone, humming as he read. “Seems innocuous enough… he’s just checking on you.” He fixed Keith with a Look again. “Babe, are you _seriously_ freaking out because your not-uncle is asking how you’re doing?”

Keith grumbled. “Shut up.” Lance chuffed as Keith turned the car on – she was still running, bless her heart, and God bless Toyota for it. “It’s just – weird. None of the other adults in my life ever gave a shit once I was out of sight.”

“What about Shiro?”

Keith snorted as he put the car into gear. “Shiro’s _barely_ an adult. I saw him make ramen with the powdered cheese from a Kraft mac and cheese box once.”

Lance laughed, loud and clear. “That’s so _cute_ , though!” He nudged Keith’s elbow. “Not as cute as you, of course.”

Keith shook his bangs in front of his face. “Shut _up_.”

Lance giggled. “Precious.” He sat back in his seat, kicking his high top Vans up on the dash as Keith merged back onto the highway. “I’ll reply for you since you’re not gonna otherwise,” he said, tapping at Keith’s phone. ‘You’ll thank me later for keeping your not-uncle in your life.”

“I hate you.” Lance blew a raspberry at him. “Grow up.”

“Nope.” He finished with Keith’s phone and dropped it in the cupholder, trading it out for his own. “Man,” he sighed, slouching down more. “Can you believe next time we stop, we’ll be _there?_ ”

“Finally.” When Lance didn’t laugh at Keith’s too-grumpy tone, though, Keith glanced over and caught him staring blankly at his phone. “Hey.” Lance hummed, but didn’t look up. Keith grit his teeth. “ _Babe_.” Lance didn’t even _gasp_. Keith set the cruise and reached over, grabbing blindly at Lance and catching on his forearm. “Just – talk to me.”

Lance laid his hand over Keith’s and held tight. “It’s been a lot of build up to this,” he rasped. “It just doesn’t quite feel real.”

Keith squeezed Lance’s arm. “I know.” The road swished by, conifers and red dirt and white SUVs. Lance didn’t relax his grip, so Keith didn’t, either. “Tell me about it.”

Lance sighed, a little wet. “Did you ever hear how me’n Hunk met?” Keith shook his head, and Lance smiled. “Well…”

* * *

**_Neopets – Neomail – Sun, Aug 27, 2006, 5:21 PM EST_ **

From: [lancito10] _LaNcItO_  
>> Make this user your Neofriend  
Sent: 8/27/2006, 05:21 pm  
Folder: Inbox  
Subject: HOLA!!  
Message: ¡Hola!! ¡Soy Lancito, de n00bz!!! :D Eres la primera persona que habla español que yo he conocido aqui! ! De donde eres? ?! Soy de Cuba, pero ahora vivo en Florida, y hay muchas cosas nuevas y extraño mi vieja playah :( no es lo mismo aqui :(:(:(Vives en Florida?? seria super cool!!!!!

Responda pronto, por favor!!!!

~!*`.LaNcItO.`*!~

 

From: [_Incredible_Hunk_113_] _HULK OUT_  
>>Make this user your Neofriend  
Sent: 8/27/2006, 06:16 pm  
Folder: Inbox  
Subject: RE: HOLA!!  
Message: Hola…… lo siento mucho but I no hablo espanol that good ;__________;,,,,lo siento mucho!! I just know a few words from classe de espanol D: But I still want to be amigos if you want to be!

..o0o0o. HULK OUT .o0o0o..

 

From: [lancito10] _LaNcItO_  
>> Make this user your Neofriend  
Sent: 8/27/2006, 06:31 pm  
Folder: Inbox  
Subject: RE: HOLA!!  
Message: :(:(:(:(:( Oh no!! That’s not good :( my English is no good, but I want to learn more! we both have Peophin! Yours is so pretty, how do you make it look like that?

~!*`.LaNcItO.`*!~

 

From: [_Incredible_Hunk_113_] _HULK OUT_  
>> Make this user your Neofriend  
Sent: 8/27/2006, 07:15 pm  
Folder: Inbox  
Subject: RE: HOLA!!  
Message: That’s ok!! My mom’s English isn’t super great either so I know how to help!! Dont worry abt it *3*

It’s a paint! I just bought it yesterday and it’s soOoOoOooo cute I love it!!1! You should go to the trading market and see if there’s one on sale so we can match*~v~*

..o0o0o. HULK OUT .o0o0o..

 

From: [lancito10] _LaNcItO_  
>> Make this user your Neofriend  
Sent: 8/27/2006, 07:23 pm  
Folder: Inbox  
Subject: RE: HOLA!!  
Message: si si, I will, gracias hunk! i do not see much stuff on the market yet*~v~*

you live en florida?? I just left cuba and i like to be friends, and I like you!

~!*`.LaNcItO.`*!~

 

From: [_Incredible_Hunk_113_] _HULK OUT_  
>> Make this user your Neofriend  
Sent: 8/27/2006, 07:48 pm  
Folder: Inbox  
Subject: RE: HOLA!!  
Message: Its just luck if u find anything there but ill look 4u!! :Db

Friends sounds awesomesauce! But I don’t live in florida, I live in california :( on the other side of the us :((((

I like you too!! Accept my friend request plz <3

..o0o0o. HULK OUT.o0o0o..

 

From: [lancito10] _LaNcItO_  
>> This user is your Neofriend  
Sent: 8/27/2006, 08:17 pm  
Folder: Inbox  
Subject: RE: HOLA!!  
Message: Oh cool! Thank u!!

Yes somos amigos! Too bad that you are not en florida :( but that’s ok! Can you teach me how to make music play on my profile page? Your page looks AMAZING!!!

~!*`.LaNcItO.`*!~

 

From: [_Incredible_Hunk_113_] _HULK OUT_  
>> This user is your Neofriend  
Sent: 8/27/2006, 08:31 pm  
Folder: Inbox  
Subject: RE: HOLA!!  
Message: I have to get off the comp now but I will next time! Bye lancito!!

..o0o0o. HULK OUT .o0o0o..

 

From: [lancito10] _LaNcItO_  
>> This user is your Neofriend  
Sent: 8/27/2006, 08:45 pm  
Folder: Inbox  
Subject: RE: HOLA!!  
Message: OK!! Ttyl friend hunk!!

~!*`.LaNcItO.`*!~

* * *

**_Auburn, CA – Fri, Nov 23, 2018, 3:25 PM PST_ **

Somehow, despite everything that had happened in the last few days and how close they were to the end, Lance fell asleep twenty minutes before they got off the last interstate exit in Hunk’s small town. Keith kept an eye on him as the rainy drizzle faded in and out, just enough that he had to flip the windshield wipers on and off constantly but nothing like the downpours he was used to in the east Texas summers.

They were off the highway now, less than five minutes away from the refuge Hunk had found. Shiro and Pidge were already there, apparently helping Hunk bake (so Keith was already making plans to scrub burnt flour off any surface Shiro touched). Keith was trying to drive a little carelessly to wake Lance up on his own, but he was out cold, face pressed to the seatbelt and mouth open, brow furrowed, one leg bent up and the other splayed out. It wasn’t graceful or pretty, but Keith weaved in the residential roads a bit more than planned anyway, caught on the loose curl of his fingers around his seatbelt. His hands were cool and textured, and after their morning conversation about it, Keith couldn’t stop thinking about how his palm might rub against-

Keith braked hard at a stop sign that really did sneak up on him. Lance groaned, but didn’t wake up. Stubborn idiot.

Keith stopped in front of the house that Maps ended on with too many cars in the driveway and old Halloween stickers on the front window, then killed the engine and the music with it. Lance stirred, but didn’t wake up. “Si,” Keith said. Lance’s nose wrinkled. “Lance.” Keith rolled his eyes and went to flick Lance’s forehead with a finger, but his hand shifted at the last second and ran the back of his knuckles down Lance’s cheek instead. “Babe,” he said again, “Wake up. We’re here.”

Lance grumbled, shifting even more, back arching with his yawn. Keith snatched his hand away. “Here where?” he groaned, rubbing at his face down to his neck.

“ _Here_ here. We made it.” Lance blinked at him, concepts struggling to piece his hazy nap fog. Keith grabbed at the phone in the cupholder and held it up for him to see the completed directions on Maps.

Lance stared at it, still blinking too much. “We’re _here?_ ” Lance whispered, and Keith kept his teasing comments to himself for a later time. He just nodded, unplugging Lance’s phone from its cables and handing it over, unbuckling himself and then Lance when he still didn’t move. The brush of Keith’s arm seemed to be the last dump of cold water Lance needed, twisting around to fumble the door open, barely remembering to shove his feet back in his shoes before spilling out onto the curb.

Keith followed as Lance ran to the door, banging on the door like he was trying to break it down. Keith frowned and jogged the last few steps to grab his arm on a back swing. “Hey, chill out-”

The door swung open, almost hitting both of them in the face. Shiro smiled down at them, hook on the doorknob and leaning in more than necessary. “Hey! Glad you got-”

“ _Move!”_ Lance snapped, shoving Shiro’s back against the door so he could storm inside, yelling out, “ _Babe!_ Where are you?”

Shiro watched him go with wide eyes, rubbing the spot on his chest where Lance had pushed him. “Well, nice to meet you, too.” He smiled at Keith, and that weird place in Keith’s chest that was butter for it melted. “Hey there, kid,” he said, voice low and deep like it never quite came across on a Discord microphone. “Good to see you.” Keith nodded, throat closing up. Shiro tilted his head, gray-streaked hair falling over his eyes. “You okay? I know it was a long haul for y’all-”

Keith dove in and wrapped his arms around Shiro’s chest, gripping wool and pressing his face into his shoulder hard enough that the cables of Shiro’s arm jerked. “Oh, okay, so this is new.” Keith squeezed his eyes shut as Shiro patted his back, hair shifting when Shiro didn’t _quite_ lean on him. “Guess it has been a while, huh?”

Keith pushed back, straightening his shirt and pulling his ponytail tight – oh, right, it was still in Lance’s braid. “Yeah, well. Lance is contagious.” Shiro laughed, clapping him on the shoulder.

“If you say so. Speaking of…” They both turned to look down the hall, Shiro’s hand staying on his shoulder. Lance was wrapped up in big sweatshirt arms; the only thing telling him and his captor apart was the wash of their jeans. His feet were clear off the ground, caught up in a sloppy bridal carry, arms and face lost in someone else’s hair. A serving spoon was on the carpet at who was probably Hunk’s feet. Multiple voices carried from the door behind him, but the two of them were wrapped up in their own summer, leaking at the sides – Keith could tell Lance was doing his laugh-crying hiccups, and Hunk was swaying on his feet, reduced to wild dark hair and a waving orange headband.

Shiro’s arm wound around Keith’s shoulders and pulled him in to his side. Keith huffed, but he didn’t fight it.

Someone small and fluffy stomped out of the kitchen, pushing at Hunk hard - but he didn’t even stumble. “Hey! Quit being gay out here and tell me if the potatoes are done, jerk!” Hunk and Lance didn’t break rank, muttering to each other in that weird Spanglish they sometimes talked in when they didn’t think anyone else was on voice. The new fluffy kid rolled their eyes, then saw Shiro and Keith skulking in the door. They blinked. “Keith?”

Shiro’s arm tightened. “Pidge, give them space,” he warmed. “It’s been a long day for all of us.”

“No _shit_.” They jammed past the friendship hug-lift that was threatening to turn into a dance-spin on the hall runner, seeking refuge in Shiro and Keith’s calm eddy. They shoved some ginger-y hair out of their face, big hazel eyes looking up at them. Did grown people _really_ come this tiny?

“You look like shit, cowboy,” they told Keith, voice barely above a squeaky pitch but _loud_. Shiro laughed, and Keith crossed his arms.

“Takes one to know one, punk.” Pidge glared – grinned, pounding his arm. Keith cracked a smile, tapping them with his fist. “Hey, pipsqueak.”

“Shut _up!_ It’s good to see you, _ass!_ ” Keith laughed as he was yanked out of Shiro’s loose hold to fall on them, barely keeping himself from dragging them both down to the floor. He gripped their arms for balance, a hand slamming into his chest to keep him a foot away. “You _reek_ ,” they whined. “Did you guys shower at _all?_ ”

He raised his eyebrows at her. “They don’t have showers in the desert, P.”

They pushed him away, Shiro catching him before he could stumble out of the front door, a wide hand splayed between his shoulders. “Gross,” Pidge grumbled.

“It’s only been two days,” he pointed out. Pidge’s mouth dropped open, gesturing vaguely at his… everything. “What?”

“Shiro!” they squeaked. “How did you let… _this_ happen?”

Shiro chuckled. “It’s a work in progress.” Keith cut his eyes at him, but Shiro just shrugged. “Truth hurts, kid.”

“ _Something’s burning in here!_ ” a new voice called from further in the house. “ _Someone gonna come deal with it?_ ”

All three of them looked to the couple nearest to the kitchen, but not even the threat of burning food could shake Hunk from his Lance communion. Shiro sighed. “I’ll get it.”

“No, _I’ll_ get it,” Keith said, breaking away from both of them. “You’ll just make it worse somehow.”

Pidge cackled. “Does _everyone_ know you can’t cook?” they joked at Shiro. Keith couldn’t see him, but he knew Shiro was pouting.

Keith smirked, tapping Hunk’s arm as he passed. “Hey, big guy,” he said. “Good to-”

Two hands whipped out and grabbed him, yanking him in for a very bony, very awkward three-way hug. He gasped for air, the wind knocked out of him with the force of the embrace, but Hunk was _warm_ and Lance had his fingers tangled in the remnants of Keith’s braid, everyone breathing each other’s air and no space for anything else. They fixed him in place hard enough that he couldn’t even look for help, one captured hand curled on Lance’s stomach and the other steadying his balance on some part of Hunk. He had no choice but to lean on Hunk’s solidness, breaking his outside arm free to snake around Lance’s waist and keep him up when he started slipping. Lance grinned at him, eyes red and face wet. Keith smiled.

“You _guys!_ ” Hunk wailed, sniffling and nuzzling his soppy face into Keith’s hair (oh well, he needed a shower anyway). “I can’t believe you’re _here!_ ”

“You know, you didn’t cry when _we_ showed up,” Shiro joked – at some point he had come up behind Keith, fingers brushing his flannel. “I feel so unloved.”

Lance flapped a hand behind Keith until he caught on something, hauling Shiro into the hug, his laughter vibrating against Keith’s whole back. Pidge popped themself between Hunk and the wall, supporting Lance’s back and disappearing under Hunk’s arm. Hunk laughed, loud and deep, and Keith hid his smile in it. It felt good to be home.

* * *

**_Auburn, CA – Fri, Nov 23, 2018, 4:45 PM PST_ **

Hunk couldn’t _breathe_.

Of course, a big reason for that was probably Lance’s whole body weight draped over him on the couch, thin and bony and unrelenting, his head pillowed on Hunk’s chest as he argued with Pidge about – something. Hunk should probably pay attention to that – he was pretty sure it was about him. But Lance was playing with his hair, Hunk’s work headband pulled down around his neck so he had more to mess with. Lance’s own hair, damp and curly from the shower he had taken as soon as his emotions dipped to a seven, dripped onto Hunk’s sweatshirt, both of Lance’s ankles locked around Hunk’s leg. Pidge was perched on the couch arm by Hunk’s head, not touching him in excess like Lance but a warm presence either way, just enough that they were _there_. Shiro and Matt were on the other couch, chatting with their hosts about things that people in their mid-twenties talked about, picking pastries off a mismatched platter of whatever had ended up being edible from the day’s baking. The rest of the household had trickled home from work before Lance and Keith had arrived, so the little three bedroom house was full to bursting, lively sound and heat bulging it at the cracks. Hunk could relate.

Keith came downstairs from his own shower, hair wet and loose and with a fresh flannel on, this one gray and yellow instead of black and red. Hunk knew what he looked like from the candids Lance had been sending, but his scars stood out more in person, his skin _richer_ as he picked over the feet and discarded throw pillows of the living room obstacle course to plop down on the floor by Hunk’s shoulder. He leant back against the couch, bare feet kicked up on a corner of the coffee table, head tilted back on the cushion. Lance’s outside hand went straight to his damp hair, lifting it up on the cushion and finger combing it into thinner strings to dry faster. Keith sighed and slumped as Hunk watched – two days locked in a car together undid a _lot_ of gamer animosity, it seemed.

Hunk closed his eyes, relaxing into the soft couch. He would need to listen to the actual words being said soon – a lot of them were about him and his immediate future, and he was supposed to contribute to that – but his frenetic energy of the week was tapped, and all he wanted to do was sleep. Lance was a shitty blanket, he was learning, but he molded to Hunk like icing, seeping in to all his cracks and saturating. What he lacked in coverage he made with force of personality and wriggling.

Pidge said something that made Lance push up to his elbows, one catching on Keith’s spread-out hair – he actually hissed about it, arching and scratching at Lance’s arm behind his head. Lance flopped around to free him, laughing while Pidge snickered. Hunk held Lance steady by the waist, tilting his head back on the throw pillow to grin up at Pidge, who was still enjoying Keith’s pain a little too much, but winked down at Hunk when they noticed him looking.

Hunk expected Keith to run away when he was released from his accidental bonds, but he just rolled to his knees with a punch to Lance’s offending elbow, knocking it out from under him so Lance collapsed on Hunk again. Hunk wheezed a little, but Lance didn’t try to get up again, worming his arms under Hunk’s pillow instead, laughter still vibrating through both of them.

Lance sighed, humid breath blowing on Hunk’s neck and stomach giving against him, trailing off from his conversation with Pidge to nestle into Hunk’s hood. A light weight flopped down beside them – Hunk cracked an eye as Keith nestled on his crossed forearms on the cushion, still kneeling on the carpet and just barely touching Hunk’s arm with his elbow. He had a scowl on, but his eyes were tired and soft as he scanned the room, beginning and ending with Hunk and Lance’s cuddle session on the couch. He smiled when he noticed Hunk watching, mostly hiding it behind damp hair and plaid.

“You guys are boring,” Pidge whined, sliding off the couch and nudging Keith’s arm with a foot. “Aren’t you supposed to be the fighting antagonists of the group?”

Keith shrugged. “Too tired for that.”

Pidge groaned, stomping over to the baked goods tray. “Unbelievable.”

Lance turned his head to plop his cheek on Hunk’s shoulder and face Keith. Hunk couldn’t tell what his expression was from this angle, but judging by Keith’s even softer look and the long exhale as he deflated against Hunk, it must have been nice. “You could get off the floor, wolfman,” Lance murmured. “Hunk’s a way better mattress than the trunk.”

“Hey now,” Hunk said, “I’m not that big.”

“Of course not, you’re just soft and friend-shaped and I love you.” Lance squeezed his arms, fluffing up Hunk’s pillow on the way. “Just saying,” he continued to Keith, “I know how wiped I am, so you can’t be doing much better.”

“M’fine.” Keith yawned, all of his teeth showing. “We still gotta plan and shit.”

“C’mon, babe, take a chill pill and relax a bit.” Keith’s eyes popped open at ‘babe’, face flushing a little, and Hunk couldn’t stop a grin. Lance didn’t seem to notice, kicking his foot at the half a cushion left at the end of the couch. “At least sit on something comfortable.”

“Squeezing my ass between y’all’s gross ass feet ain’t what I’d call comfortable.” He pressed his cheek back to his forearm, face turned down and to the side. “This works for me.”

Lance weaseled one hand free to push Keith’s hair off his forehead – was he purring? “We’ll still be here when you wake up, okay? Go take a nap.” He yawned, head knocking into Hunk’s jaw. “I’m gonna, and the big guy ain’t goin’ nowhere without me.”

Keith sighed. “Fine.” He pushed himself to his feet, meandering over to the smaller couch Shiro and Matt were on, Pidge draped across the back. He curled up in the leftover space, Shiro shuffling closer to Matt to make room. Keith threw down a throw pillow as far from the conversation as possible, falling onto the couch with a thump.

Hunk watched Shiro arrange his feet across his lap with a little smile until Lance pulled him back with a hum and a snuggle. “Naptime?” he asked. Lance hummed again. “Do you want to, like, lay down for real or-”

“Don’t you dare.” Lance punched his shoulder with the bare minimum amount of force. “I’ve waited twelve years for this,” he mumbled. “You’re not going anywhere.”

Hunk chuckled, lacing his fingers over Lance’s back and closing his eyes. “Sure, sure.” He pressed his face to Lance’s hair – it was softer and thinner than he always thought it would be. “I’m glad you’re here,” he told Lance again – he had lost count already of how many times he had told him that, but he had to.

“Glad to be here.” Lance shoved his free hand under Hunk’s shoulder, fingers digging into his sweatshirt. “Love you so much.”

Hunk grinned. “Love you too, babe. Now it’s naptime.” Lance nodded, breathing already evening out. Hunk gave him another squeeze.


End file.
